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HANDBOOK OF REYIYALS. 



^ ^ ^ 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS: 



FOR THE USE OF 



"wiisrisrERs of souls. 



BY 

HENRY C.FISH, D.D. 

Author of FrifniHve Piety Revived; Histoiy atid Repository of 
Pulpit Eloquence; Heaven ift So7tg; etc., etc. . 



It is surprising how many questions an inexperienced pastor wants 
to ask during a revival. Heman HuMrHREY. 



BOSTON : 4 
PUBLISHED BY JAMES H. EARLE, 

NO. II CORNIIILL. 
1874. 






.^5 







Entered according to Act of Congress "by Henry C. Fish, in the year 1874, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



> 



I? 






^ IITSOEIBED 

To tlie MlertLory of a Dear DF'ath.er, 
AND TO THE 

CHRISTIAN WORKERS OF EVERY NAME 

IN THE NEW WORLD AND THE OLD, 

BY THEIR FELLOW-LABORER, 
THE AUTHOR. 



That day which shall convince the great body of 
professing Christians of the reality and desirableness 
of reviv^als, will constitute a new era in the history of 
religion ; and will precede manifestations of power like 
that of Pentecost. Albert Barnes. 

Whatever I possess of religion began in a revival. 
The most precious, steadfast and vigorous fruits of my 
ministry have been the fruits of revivals. 

Charles P. McIlvaine. 

Let your hearts be much set on revivals of religion. 
Never forget that the churches have hitherto existed and 
prospered by revivals ; and that if they are to exist 
and prosper in time to come, it must be by the same 
cause which has from the first been their glory and 
defence. Joel Hawes. 

I DO not believe that my desires for a revival were 
ever half so strong as they ought to be ; nor do I see 
how a minister can help being in a " constant fever " 
in such a town as this, where his Master is dishonored 
and souls are destroyed in so many ways. 

Edward Payson. 

Our strong men and strong congregations are fruits 
of revivals ; and ten years without these special re- 
freshings would show a positive decline in the churches. 

Matthew Simpson, 

If any minister can be satisfied without conversions, 
he shall have no conversions. — Chas. H. Spurgeon. 



PREFACE. 



'TT^HREE things have led to the preparation of this 
volume. 

I. The obvious need of a fresh work on Revivals of 
religion. 

a. A deep and earnest conviction of the momentous 
importance of the subject discussed. 

3. The wish to furnish, both for inspiration and guid- 
ance, such facts, examples, arguments, directions and 
suggestions, touching the whole matter of revivals, as 
might lead to their greater appreciation and promotion. 

Indebtedness is here acknowledged to the following 
authorities : Stevens' History of Methodism ; Tracfs Great 
Awakening ; Barnes\ Sprague's^ and Fi?mefs Lectures on 
Revivals ; Humphrey's Revival Manual ; Headless Harvest 
Work of the Spirit ; Earless Bringing in Sheaves ; Alex- 
ander's Revival and its Lessons ; Narratives and Revival 
Incidents^ by Wm. C. Conant ; NewcomFs Harvest and 
Reapers ; Lectures on Revivals, by Ministers of Scotland ; 



yjji PREFACE, 

Revivals of the iMi Ce?itury ; Humphreys Letters to his 
Son in the Ministry ; Memoir of Nettleton ; Edwards on 
Revivals; Revival Miscellanies, by Caughey ; Porter's Lat- 
ter s on Revivals; Tyler's Prayer for Colleges; Prime's 
Power of Prayer; Chambers' Noon- Day Prayer- Meeting ; 
Hovey's Life and Times of Lsaac Backus ; Gihso?i's Year 
of Grace; Hawes' Tribute to the Pilgrims; The New Eng- 
la?id Memorial ; Martin Moore'' s Boston Revival in 1842 ; 
Autobiography of Lyman Beecher ; Revival in Plymouth 
Church ; BushnelVs and Skijiner's Christian Spectator Ar- 
ticles ; and History of Revivals iu the British Lsles, This 
general reference must suffice, instead of encumbering the 
pages of the work with numerous particular citations. 

Thanks are especially due to Rev. Drs. Stephen H. 
Tyng, Richard Fuller, E. S. Atwood, E. P. Goodwin, E. B. 
Webb, S. D. Burchard, and S. S. Cutting, for their valu- 
able contributions on Child-Piety, and the Training of Con- 
verts, 

Grateful for the privilege of making this slight contri- 
bution to the cause of genuine religious awakenings, it is 

humbly committed to the Divine favor. 

H. C. F. 

Newark, N. J., December, 1873. 



CONTENTS. 



-♦- 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGB 

What is a Revival ? n 

CHAPTER n. 
Historical View of Revivals 25 

CHAPTER III. 
What We Owe to Revivals 81 

CHAPTER IV. 
Divine Economy of Revivals 108 

CHAPTER V. 
Objections to Revivals 125 

CHAPTER VI. 
Position of Evangelists 150 

CHAPTER VII. 
Child-Piety and Profession 168 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Indications of a Revival 197 

CHAPTER IX. 
Revivals Hindered and Arrested 206 



X CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER X. 

PAGB 

Revival Means and Methods 226 

CHAPTER XI. 
Preaching and Revivals 254 

CHAPTER Xn. 
Prayer and Revivals 282 

CHAPTER Xni. 
Singing and Revivals 301 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Personal Effort and Revivals 320 

CHAPTER XY. 
The Sunday School and Revivals 333 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Treatment of Inquirers 349 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Training the Converts 371 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Revivals the Hope of the World 394 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Are You Revived? 408 

Alphabetical Index of Subjects 425 



Handbook of Revivals. 



CHAPTER I. 

WHAT IS A REVIVAL? 



IV/rUCH of existing mdiflference and opposition to 
revivals comes from a confusion of terms. 
There attaches to the word revival what does not be- 
long to it. Exception is not so much taken to that 
which is inherent and essential, as to that which is 
accidental and contingent. 

This shows the importance of having a clear con- 
ception of the thing meant. We must carefully sep- 
arate the revival from its adjuncts and accessories. 
We must distinguish it from false and dangerous ex- 
citements, which have usurped its name ; for, common 
and almost technical as the word revival has become, 
it is often understood by those who oppose all earn- 
estness in religion, and all true religion itself, to denote 
every species of rehgious extravagance* Even the 
wildest outbreakings of fanaticism and superstition 
arc dignified by the name of revivals. 

And yet the term is properly used with some 



1 2 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVA LS, 

latitude of meaning. Words often become broad- 
ened in their signification. It is so with the word 
revive. Strictly speaking, it means to bring again 
to life, to re-animate. While, then, we may speak of 
Christians as being revived, it could not be said of 
the unregenerate. As they are *' dead in trespasses 
and sins,'* there could be no r^-viving. That which 
has never lived could not be r^-animated. 

In popular use, however, the word revival embra- 
ces the idea of the conversion of sinners as well as 
the awakening of saints. And perhaps no better 
word could be employed. Certainly it is not im- 
properly used ; for it is applicable alike to the quick- 
ening of the individual soul, and the community. 
Indeed, where Christians are revived, there w.ill 
always be the conversion of men. 

Hence the word has a two-fold meaning : imply- 
ing the renewal of spirituality and vigor among 
Christians, and the conversion of sinners in consider- 
able numbers to God. The terms ** reformation/* 
" awakening," etc., mean the same thing. 

Dr. Hetherington, of Scotland, gives the follow- 
ing very just criticism upon the term revival. '^The 
word itself (in sortie of its forms,) is often used in 
Scripture ; and, as so used, it generally implies the 
reproduction of a spiritual Hfe which had almost died 
away. It is not, however, strictly synonymous with 
the term conversion ; for while revival implies the re- 
newal of a life which had almost died away, conversion 
strictly means the conferring of a spiritual life not 
before existing. In truth, it so happens that revi- 



WHAT IS A REVIVAL? 



13 



vals and conversions commonly accompany each 
other; so that, where conversions are frequent and 
striking, many will be re-quickened or revivedP 

Revivals, then, are seasons when Christians are 
waked to a more spiritual frame, to more fervent 
prayer, and to more earnest endeavors to promote 
the cause of Christ and redemption ; and consequent 
upon this, seasons when the impenitent are aroused 
to the concerns of the soul and the work of personal 
religion. They are times when the Spirit of the 
Lord again moves on the face of the waters, and the 
freshness and beauty of the new creature come 
forth. Nature itself seems more full of God ; the 
very words of Scripture seem thereby invested with 
a new light and glory and fulness and meaning. As 
Edwards says : ^* All things abroad, the sun, moon, 
and stars, the heavens and the earth, appear as it 
were with a cast of Divine glory and sweetness upon 
them." 

The most prominent idea generally associated 
with the word revival is the regeneration of many 
souls. Multiplied conversions is the great outstand- 
ing characteristic of a time of revival. Multitudes, 
multitudes lying dead in the valley of vision, find 
that it becomes to them' the valley of decision. Mr. 
Barnes says, take the case of a single true conversion 
to God, and extend it to a community — to many in- 
dividuals passing through that change, and you have 
all the theory of a revival of religion. It is bringing 
together many conversions ; arresting simultaneous- 
ly many minds ; perhaps condensing into a single 



14 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

place, and into a few weeks, the ordinary work of 
many places and many years. 

It hardly need be added, that this true view of 
revivals is to be disassociated from the idea of means 
and measures. These have nothing whatever to do 
with the pure signification of the term ; and confu- 
sion here should be avoided. 

Revivals may be either false or genuine. Under 
the former are to be classed mere religious excite- 
ments, extemporized by human agency, and subsid- 
ing without permanent results. There may be a 
whirlwind of agitation and no true revival. 

And these spurious movements have done much 
to harm the cause of true revivals. Artifices to catch 
attention ; devices to entrap the careless ; representa- 
tions to create impressions ; an exaggerated style 
of preaching to produce alarm and shake suspicious 
hopes, and to raise 2. furore, no matter of what kind, 
these have in some cases been put into requisition, 
over which truth, and reverence, and humility must 
weep, and which have done more to injure revivals 
than all opposition and unbelief on the part of those 
making no professions of piety. 

Genuine revivals are the fruit of the Holy Spirit. 
'* Until the Spirit be poured out from on high,'' saints 
are neither quickened nor sinners saved. The effect- 
ive cause in all true revivals, is the life-giving, light- 
imparting, quickening, regenerating and sanctifying 
energy of the Holy Spirit, converting the hardened 
sinner and reclaiming the backslidden and dormant 
believer. The quaint old Thomas Adams says : " No 



WHA T IS A RE VIVAL ? 



IS 



means on earth can soften the heart ; whether you 
anoint it with the supple balms of entreaties, or 
thunder against it the bolts of menaces, or beat it 
with the hammer of mortal blows. Behold, God 
showers his rain from heaven, and it is suddenly- 
softened. One sermon may prick to the heart. One 
drop of a Saviour's blood, distilled on it by the Spirit, 
in the preaching of the word, melts it like wax. The 
drunkard is made sober, the adulterer chaste, Zac- 
cheus merciful, and raging Paul as tame as a lamb.'' 

Again, diversities of aspect attach to revivals. The 
principle should not be forgotten, says Dr. J. W. 
Alexander, that while the great laws of the divine 
government and the dispensation of grace remain the 
same, the Supreme Giver varies his modes of bounty 
with reference to differences of country and period. 
Apostolic awakenings were in some things unlike 
those of the Reformation day. The quiet, spring- 
like renewal of vital godliness, under Spener, Francke, 
and the Pietists, bore little external resemblance to 
the prodigious revolution under the Wesleys, White- 
field, Edwards, the Tennents and the Blairs. The 
very remarkable awakenings in which Dr. Nettleton 
and his friends were instrumental, differ again from 
the times of refreshing in which we live. 

Revivals are unlike in their beginnings. Some par- 
ticular sermon ; some sickness or death in the com- 
munity ; some appalling Providence ; some awaken- 
ing near by ; the visit of some pastor or evangelist, 
and the like, may be the apparent cause of a revival. 
Or it may come mysteriously. A deep and wide- 



l6 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

spread solemnity may suddenly seize a congregation 
or^community, and the manifestation of an increased 
interest may spring up, as without cause, in the Sun- 
day school, the prayer-meeting, the factory, or the 
school district. 

So do revivals differ in their phenomena. The 
subjects of them are variously wrought upon. In 
some cases they readily and gently yield to the sweet 
pleadings of love ; in others there are resistance and 
marked outward manifestations. 

In some cases, too, the work may progress qui- 
etly ; in others it comes with observation. Dr. Grif- 
fin says of a work in his day in Newark, N. J. : *' In 
point of power and stillness, it exceeds all that I have 
ever seen. While it bears down everything with 
irresistible force and seems almost to dispense with 
human instrumentality, it moves with so much 
silence, that unless we attentively observe its effects, 
we are tempted at times to doubt whether anything 
uncommon is taking place.'* But revivals were pro- 
gressing at that very time, in different localities, with 
marked peculiarities of just the contrary character. 
It was no uncommon thing in the days of the Ten- 
nents, says Tracy, "' to see persons, in the time of 
hearing, sobbing as if their hearts would breSk, but 
without any public outcry: and some have been car- 
ried out of the assembly, (being overcome,) as if they 
had been dead.'* Gillies mentions faintings, so that 
a number were carried out in a state of insensibility, 
under the preaching of Rowland, in a Baptist church, 
probably at Philadelphia ; but he gives no date. 



WHA T IS A REVIVAL? 



17 



Gilbert Tennent was present ; and at his suggestion, 
Rowland changed the style of his discourse, and the 
faintings ceased. In Finley'-s Nottingham sermon, 
** Christ triumphing and Satan raging/' — '' wherein 
IS proved that the kingdom of God is come unto us 
at this day/' which was printed at Philadelphia, 
Boston, and London, in 1741, we are told that oppo- 
sers of the revival, "without observing the deep con- 
cern that souls seem to be under, only ask about 
the fits and convulsions that their sorrow throws 
them into/' 

The nervous excitements connected with the re- 
vivals under the Wesleys and Tennents, and Whit- 
field, and Edwards, and those of later days, are well 
known. Persons often involuntarily, fell down, faint- 
ed and went into convulsions. 

Among the most remarkable of these cases of 
physical manifestations, were those in the *' Ken- 
tucky revival," which commenced in 1800. Ac- 
counts were given by learned men, physicians, 
divines, and others, who were eye-witnesses and care- 
ful observers ; but the most graphic and instructive 
seems to be that of the shrewd, though eccentric, 
Lorenzo Dow. He preached in the Court-house at 
Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1805, when about one hun- 
dred and fifty of his hearers were exercised with 
'' the jerks ; '' that is, with violent spasmodic con- 
tractions of the muscles, which sometimes turned the 
head quickly from right to left and back again ; and 
sometimes threw the person on the ground, where 
he rolled about strangely. He says, " I have seen 



l8 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

all denominations of religion exercised with the 
jerks, gentleman and lady, black and white, young 
and old, without exception. I have passed a meet- 
ing-house, where I observed the undergrowth had 
been cut for a camp-meeting, and from fifty to a 
hundred saplings were left, breast high, on purpose 
for the people who were jerked to hold on by. I 
observed, where they had held on, they had kicked 
up the earth as a horse stamping flies. A Presbyte- 
rian minister told me that while preaching the day 
before some had the jerks. I believe it does not 
affect those naturalists, who wish and try to get 
it to philosophize upon it : and rarely those who are 
the most pious ; but the lukewarm, lazy professor is 
subject to it. The wicked fear it, and are subject to 
it ; but the persecutors are more subject to it than 
any, and they have sometimes cursed and swore and 
damned it, while jerking." 

Dr. Robertson, an eye-witness, says, in his Inau- 
gural Essay before the Medical Faculty at Philadel- 
phia : ** It attacks both sexes, and every constitu- 
tion ; but evidently more readily, those who are en- 
thusiasts in religion." Dr. Alexander says that the 
phenomena *' were common to all ages and sexes, 
and to all sorts of characters." Dow says, that 
"• persecutors " had it, without relaxing their open 
hatred of religion. Others testify that they have 
been thrown into '' the jerks" by hearing a descrip- 
tion of the jerking of others, and without any reli- 
gious impression, either attending or following the 
attack. Cartwright mentions one fatal case- of the 



WIIA T IS A RE VIVAL? ig 

'* jerks.*' *'This large man cursed the jerks and all 
religion. Shortly afterward he took the jerks and 
started to run, but he jerked so powerfully he could 
not get away. He halted among some saplings, and 
although he was violently agitated, he took out his 
bottle of whiskey, and swore he would drink the 
jerks to death ; but he jerked at such a rate that he 
could not get the bottle to his mouth, though he 
tried hard. At length he fetched a sudden jerk, and 
the bottle struck a sapHng and was broken to pieces, 
and spilled his whiskey on the ground. He became 
very much enraged and cursed and swore very pro- 
fanely, his jerks still increasing. At length he fetched 
a very violent jerk, snapped his neck, fell, and soon 
expired, with his mouth full of cursing and bit- 
terness.'' "^ 

John Wesley looked upon these physical agita- 
tions as proofs of the divine presence. Charles 
Wesley suspected and discouraged them. Whitfield 
was incredulous. Edwards puts in an apology for 
them. But very few ministers favored them. Find- 
ing by careful examination that they were often 
accompanied with rational conviction and sound con- 
version, they treated them gently, but did not 
ascribe them to divine influence, nor hold them to be 

* This subject is ably illustrated in an " Essay upon the Influence 
of the Imagination on the Nervous System, contributing to a False 
Hope in Religion, by Rev. Grant Powers." Andover, Flagg & Gould 
1828. Also in Religious Catalepsy, by Rev. Silas Comfort, in 
Methodist Quarterly Review for April, 1859. Also, Gibson's Year of 
Grace, p. 380. The account given by the Rev. Dr. Alexander may be 
found in the Connecticut Evan. Mag. Vol. II. p. 354. 



2Q HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

parts of a revival. It were better, no doubt, had 
there been a more decided discouragement of them. 
Even with the aids of science in its present advanced 
state, it is not possible to account for these physical 
effects ; nor is it important. Agitations quite as 
marked have occurred when in no way connected 
with religion, and also with fanatical heresies. A 
writer is probably correct in defining them to be " a 
catalepsy, or a suspension, more or less, of the func- 
tions of the cerebrum, attended by an abnormal ac- 
tivity of those of the cerebellum. The rational pow- 
ers — the will, judgment or reason — are thus tempo- 
rarily put in abeyance, and the involuntary suscepti- 
bilities left subject to the prevailing impression or 
influence.'* 

As to these and other aspects attendant upon 
revivals, it is not for us to limit the Holy One of 
Israel. There are diversities of operations by the 
same Spirit, suited to differences of country and 
time. The awakenings of the past were in some 
things unlike those of the present. And it may 
please God to change still farther the modes of his 
bounty in the days to come. Nevertheless, true re- 
ligion is the same in all times and places, and genuine 
revivals, in their essential features, are the same. 
To show his sovereignty and fulfill his plans, and 
from other causes, the Most High may in one case 
bestow the Spirit gently like the falling dew ; and in 
another, amid thunderings and quakings. In one 
case he may bring in hundreds and thousands, and 
in others only a few. In one case the revival takes 



WHA T IS A REVIVAL ? 21 

in persons of all classes, and in another it reaches one 
or two classes, leaving the rest as it found them. In 
one case it pervades the whole town, while in 
another it is confined mainly to the centre, or the out- 
districts. In one case it begins among the highei 
classes, and another among the lower ; in one with 
the young men, in another with the young women, 
and in another with one' or both sexes in middle 
life. But wherever and however, it is the same 
Holy Spirit " turning men from darkness to light and 
from the power of Satan unto God.** 

Nor is it difficult to designate the essential fea- 
tures of a genuine revival of religion. For one thing, 
we may be sure that "' the truth as it is in Jesus''' ac- 
companies a real work of grace. To borrow an ex- 
ample, suppose there were to be a powerful excite- 
ment on the subject of religion produced by means 
which are at war with the spirit of the gospel ; — sup- 
pose doctrines were to be preached which the gospel 
does not recognize, and doctrines omitted which 
the gospel regards fundamental ; — suppose that for 
the simple, and honest, and faithful use of the sword 
of the Spirit, there should be substituted a mass of 
machinery designed to produce its effect on the ani- 
mal passions ; — suppose the substance of religion, 
instead of being made to consist in repentance, and 
faith, and holiness, should consist of falling, and 
groaning, and shouting; — we should say unhesita- 
tingly that that could net be a genuine work of 
divine grace ; or, if there were some pure wlicat, 
there must be a yast amount of chaff and stubble. 



22 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS, 

On the other hand, where there is an attention 
to religion excited by the plain and faithful preach- 
ing of God's truth in all its length and breadth, and 
by the use of those simple and honest means which 
God's word either directly prescribes or fairly sanc- 
tions, we cannot reasonably doubt that there is a gen- 
uine work of the Holy Spirit. 

Again, there will not be simple excitement of feeU 
ing in a true work of grace, but knowledge and reflec- 
tion, as well. Truth enters the heart through the 
understanding, and if the feelings manifested, whether 
of peace or distress, be the effect of an enlightened 
apprehension, and intelligent conviction, there is 
reason to hope that God's Spirit is really at work. 
But where the mind is in a great degree blind and 
passive while yet the sensibilities are wrought to a 
high pitch, there is reason to doubt the genuineness 
of the supposed conversions, and that which claims 
to be a revival is pretty surely not a genuine but a 
spurious one. 

Again, the genuineness of a work is to be suspected 
unless the holiness, zeal and devotedness of Christians 
are increased. Where they awake to a sense of 
neglected obligations, and mourn over and confess 
them ; where they in earnestness implore the descent 
of the Holy Spirit, taking heed, themselves, lest they 
grieve and quench that Spirit ; where their conversa- 
tion becomes spiritual and they put each other in re- 
membrance of the covenant vows ; where they ten- 
derly speak to the unrenewed, beseeching them to be 
reconciled to God ; and where, as the result, convic- 



WHA T IS A RE VIVAL ? 23 

tion seizes upon the careless, and multitudes are in- 
quiring what they shall do to be saved, there is no 
room to doubt that a true work of grace is in pro- 
gress. 

In the absence of all this, no matter by what 
name a work is called, it is not a real revival of re- 
ligion. 

Farther ; where the work is genuine there will be 
abiding results. If an excitement on the subject of 
religion, no matter how great it may have been, 
passes away and leaves behind little or no substan- 
tial and enduring good ; if most of those who profess 
to have been converted return speedily or gradually 
to the world, living a careless and godless life, then 
we may know that a revival had in it little more than 
the name. On the other hand, let religion be acted 
out in the life ; let those professing a change illus- 
trate, daily, the christian virtues and graces, and 
one need not ask for farther evidence of the agency 
of the Spirit of God. 

It is not difficult to -see in President Edwards' de- 
scription of Northampton, at the time of the great 
awakening there, the marks of a genuine work of 
grace : " This work soon made a glorious altera- 
tion in the town ; so that in the spring and summer 
following, it seemed to be full of the presence of 
God ; it never was so full of love, nor so full of joy, 
and yet so full of distress as it was then. There 
were remarkable tokens of God's presence in almost 
every house. It was a time of joy in families on ac- 
count of salvation being brought to them ; parents 



24 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS, 

rejoicing over their children as new born, and hus- 
bands over their wives, and wives over their hus- 
bands. The goings of God were then seen in his 
sanctuary. God's day was a delight, and his taber- 
nacles were amiable. Our public assemblies were then 
beautiful ; the congregation was alive in God's service, 
every one earnestly intent on the public worship, 
every hearer eager to drink in the words of the min- 
ister as they came from his mouth. The assembly in 
general were, from time to time, in tears while the 
word was preached ; some weeping with sorrow and 
distress, others with joy and love^ others with pity 
and concern for the souls of their neighbors.'' 

"O Lord, Revive Thy Work!^' 



CHAPTER II. 

HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS. 

HP HE history of revivals is the history of religion. 
If we consult the Bible we shall find awakenings 
from the earliest times. Thus in the days of Sam- 
uel, when the people had done evil a long time, 
serving Baalim, it is said '' Israel lamented after the 
Lord,'' and Samuel said ^* If ye do return unto the 
Lord with all your hearts, and serve him only, he 
will deliver you/' Upon doing it the blessing came. 
Drawing near to battle, " the Lord thundered with 
a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines and 
discomfited them, and they were smitten before Is- 
rael.'' Then they came together and '' drew water, 
and poured it out before the Lord ; " — an emblem, 
perhaps, of the fulness of their penitent sorrow, and 
of the felt blessings of the most High. The narra- 
tive is short ; but there was here an effective revi- 
val. 

Often in the succeeding ages hope almost ex- 
pired ; but '^ a remnant was left of those that 
feared the Lord ;'' and in the reigns of David, and 
Solomon, and Asa and Jehoshaphat, and Hczckiah 
and Josiah, seasons of recovery and refreshing were 
not withheld. 



26 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

Soon after the return from the captivity there 
was a great reformation. The people gathered them- 
selves together in Jerusalem as one man, and called 
upon Ezra to bring out the book of the law of Moses 
which the Lord had commanded to Israel ; and he 
read therein from morning till midday; "and the 
ears of all the people were attentive unto the book 
of the law.'* For when he opened the book in the 
sight of all the people, they all stood up. And when 
he blessed the Lord, the great God, " all the people 
answered. Amen, amen, lifting up their hands, and 
worshiping the Lord with their faces on the ground.'* 
And they proved their sincerity by hastening to do 
works meet for repentance. For they restored the 
worship of God which had fallen into disuse, and 
separated themselves from heathen alliances, and 
contributed regularly to the support of the temple 
services. 

Dark days came on. From the time of Malachi 
we hear of no true prophets to warn the people ; and 
corruption spread " from the sole of the foot even 
unto the head.'' 

Then came John the Baptist preaching in the 
wilderness of Judea, and saying " Repent ye, for the 
kingdom of heaven is at hand." He was no ordina- 
ry preacher. The truth was searching, arousing, 
pungent. The spirit of Elijah burned in his breast 
and thundered in his voice. And a powerful revi- 
val ensued. For "• there went out to him Jerusalem 
and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, 
and were baptised of him in Jordan, confessing their 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 



27 



Exalted at the right hand of the Father, the Re- 
deemer was to vouchsafe his grand coronation gift. 
It came. The star-light falHng upon a solitary peo- 
ple became the splendor of the all-warning, all-vivi- 
fying sun. The narrow pent-up stream became the 
majestic river, rolling health and gladness through 
all the lands. Brief and pregnant is the record : 
*^ And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, 
they were all with one accord in one place. And 
suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a 
rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where 
they were sitting. And there appeared unto them 
cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each 
of them. And they were all filled with the Holy 
Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as 
the spirit gave them utterance. And there were 
dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of 
every nation under heaven. Now when this was 
noised abroad, the multitude came together, and 
were confounded, because that every man heard 
them speak in his own language. And they were 
all amazed, and marvelled, saying one to another, 
Behold, are not all these which speak, Galileans? 
And how hear we every man in our own tongue, 
wherein we were born ? Parthians, and Medes, and 
Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in 
Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phry- 
gia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of 
Libya, about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews 
and Proselytes, Cretes, and Arabians, we do hear 
them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of 



28 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt 
saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others 
mocking said, These men are full of new wine/' 

Peter explained the strange phenomena, point- 
ing to the prediction here fulfilled, that God would 
*' pour out his Spirit upon all flesh," and likewise 
charged home upon his hearers their awful guilt in 
rejecting and crucifying the Lord. '* Now when they 
heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said 
unto Peter, and to the rest of the Apostles, Men 
and brethren. What shall we do? Then Peter said 
unto them. Repent, and be baptised every one of 
you in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they that 
gladly received his word, were baptised : and the 
same day there were added unto them about three 
thousand souls." 

Now, although the effects of this stupendous 
manifestation of Messiah^s kingly power and munifi- 
cence were beyond comparison grand and glorious, 
the scene was strictly of the nature of a revival. In 
all its essential features it was nothing more. Says 
Rev. Albert Barnes, "- I am aware that some have 
supposed that that whole scene was miraculous, and 
that it cannot be expected again to occur, since the 
days of miracles have ceased. But I am ignorant of 
the arguments which demonstrate that there was 
aught of miracle in this, except in the power of speak- 
ing in foreign languages, conferred on the apostles — 
a power which of itself converted no one of the three 
thousand wJio on that day gave their hearts to the 
Saviour. The power of speaking foreign languages 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 



29 



had but two effects, one was to furnish evidence that 
the religion was from God ; the other to enable 
them to make known its truths in the ears of the 
multitude assembled from different parts of the world. 
It was by the proper influence of truth that the 
multitudes were alarmed and awakened. And why- 
should not the same truth produce the same effect 
now? It was indeed by the power of God. But that 
same power is expected in the conversion of every 
sinner; and why may it not now be employed in 
conv_erting many simultaneously? It was indeed 
by the Holy Ghost; but no sinner is awakened or 
converted now without his power; and why may not 
that be exerted still on many as well as on one ? The 
great fact in the case was, that several thousands 
were converted under the preaching of the truth by 
the influence of the Holy Ghost. Miracles change 
no one. The laws of mind were violated in the case 
of no one. No effect was produced which the truth 
was not adapted to produce. And why should not 
the same effect be again produced by the preaching 
of the same truth, and by the power of the same 
sacred Spirit ? '* 

With tongues and hearts of heavenly fire, the 
chosen heralds went forth from the scene, everywhere 
to publish peace. And multitudes laid hold of the 
hope set before them. For we are told that the Lord 
added to the church daily such as should be saved ; 
and again, the number of the men was about five thou- 
sand ; and again, multitudes of believers, both men 
and women, were added to the Lord; the number of 



30 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



the disciples was multiplied at Jerusalem greatly ; and 
a great company of the priests were obedient to the 
faith. All this took place within two years of the 
descent of the Spirit. Eight years more had not 
elapsed before the gospel was preached with saving 
power to the Gentiles at Caesarea, and at Antioch, 
where much people were added to the Lord. With 
what rapidity its triumphs were multiplied, both 
among them and the Jews scattered abroad, the follow- 
ing testimonies relating to the next eight years of the 
new dispensation are witness. At Iconium, a great 
multitude both of Jews and also of the Greeks 
believed ; the converts of Antioch, Syria, and 
Cilicia, were confirmed in the faith, and increased in 
number daily. In Thessalonica some of the Jews 
believed, and of the devout Greeks a great multi- 
tude, and of the chief women not a few. At Berea, 
many of the Jews believed, also of honorable women 
which v/ere Greeks, and of men not a few. Many at 
Corinth beHeved and were baptised. The word of 
God grew mightily at Ephesus and prevailed. At 
Athens, certain men clave unto Paul, and Demetrius 
complained that, throughout all Asia, Paul had 
preached and turned away much people. What a 
series of glorious revivals we have here recorded ! 

And it is interesting to observe that this blessed 
work continued on through the post-apostolic age. 
It was by a succession of marvellous revivals, as we 
should call them, rather than by the gradual addition 
of a few souls at a time, that the churches during the 
first few centuries made their triumphant onsets upon 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, Sj 

the powers of darkness. Hence the amazing pro- 
gress of which the early writers speak. 

. PHny the younger, who was some time governor 
of Bithynia under the bloody emperor Trajan, ear- 
nestly dissuaded him from persisting in his persecut- 
ing edicts against the Christians in that province, 
not only by assuring him that they were a harmless 
people, chargeable with no crime, ^* meeting togeth- 
er to sing hymns and worship Christ as God," but 
that they were very numerous all over the province^ 
and that the more they were punished the more they 
increased. And Tertullian, who lived a century later, 
and died in 216, writing to the Roman government 
in vindication of the new religion, as it was called, 
says, ** Though we are strangers of no long standing, 
yet we have filled all places of your dominions, cities, 
islands, corporations, councils, armies, tribes, the 
senate, the palace, the courts of judicature. If the 
Christians had a mind to revenge themselves, their 
numbers are abundant, for they have a party, not in 
this or that province only, but in all quarters of the 
world. Nay, if they were to combine and forsake 
the Roman empire, how vast would be the loss ! 
The world would be amazed at the solitude which 
would ensue.^' 

Such an extension of Christianity, as a historian 
has remarked, presupposes a progress of the work of 
conversion immensely more rapid than what we now 
observe. The very persecutions also prove this. 
There must have been a great amount of fuel to 
support such fires. Even in regions of Africa, which 



22 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

are now a desolation, there were cities and provinces 
of Christians. The writer just cited, in an appeal to 
the persecuting governor of Africa, says, ^^ If you 
persevere in your persecution, what will you do with 
these many thousands, both men and women, of 
every rank and every age, who will promptly offer 
themselves ? Carthage itself must be decimated." 
And again, enumerating the nations who have be- 
lieved in Christ, he declares that the gospel has pen- 
etrated to regions which were inaccessible even to 
the eagles of imperial Rome, and that the church 
had already spread itself more widely than the four 
great monarchies. '* Excellent governors,'' saysTer- 
tuUian, **you may torment, afflict, and vex us; your 
wickedness puts our meekness to the test ; but your 
cruelty is of no avail. It is but a stronger invitation 
to bring others to our persuasion. The more we 
are mowed down, the more we spring up again. 
''The blood of the Christians is seed.'* 

Here we have proof of the spread of Christianity 
by extensive and powerful reformations, — the turn- 
ing of multitudes, on a vast scale, almost simultane- 
ously, from sin and Satan unto God. In no other 
way could the work have progressed as it did. 

How superstition arose, and the ^' Man of Sin'* 
gained the ascendancy, and true piety languished 
during the long succeeding centuries, it is not our 
province here to depict. All this time God had a 
true people ; but their history is almost illegible. 

In sketching the modern revivals, it will be con- 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 33 

venient to speak of them under several epochs. 
The periods may be designated thus : 

1st, The great Reformation, properly beginning 
in the fourteenth century, and extending into the 
sixteenth century in the days of Luther, who died 
1546. 

2d, The work of God of the seventeenth century,in 
the days of Owen, Leighton, Bunyan, Baxter, Flavel ; 
the last of whom died in 1691. 

3d, The Great Awakening in the eighteenth cen- 
tury, about 1740, in the days of Whitefield, Wes- 
ley, Edwards, Brainerd, and the Tennents. 

4th, The revival of the nineteenth century, begin- 
ning about 179O5 and extending, say, to the year 1840. 

Sth, The revival of 1857 to i860. 

First Revival Period : 1310^-1 560. — We 
find traces of God's gracious work even through- 
out that long and horrible night when Popery was 
holding almost universal empire. There arose, at 
intervals, within her pale, individuals protesting 
against her monstrous abominations. Doubtless, 
too, beyond her pale there existed an unbroken suc- 
cession of faithful and incorruptible witnesses for the 
truth : so that when scornfully asked where was the 
religion of Protestants before Luther, we may answer 
** in the Bible,'* and '' in the valleys of Piedmont.'' 

In the fourteenth century there must have been 
great revivals ; for in Bohemia alone, where the gos- 
pel had won its way, there were reckoned, in 13 15, 
no less than 80,000 witnesses for the religion of Jesus. 



34 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

So, again, in the same century, John Wyckliffe, 
'^ the morning-star of the Reformation/' heralded 
the day-spring, and many turned to the Lord. He 
died in 1384; but John Huss (born 1376) was con- 
verted by his writings ; and after exerting a mighty 
influence for the truth, sealed his testimony amid 
the flames of martyrdom in 141 5. Jerome of Prague 
embraced the doctrines of Huss, [his friend and mas- 
ter] and also died at the stake, a year later. 

Born in 1483, Martin Luther, with his coadjutors, 
shook the papal throne to its foundations. And that 
most remarkable work was, strictly speaking, a revi- 
val of religion. Says Dr. J. W. Alexander, with the 
greatest propriety, ^* It is a deplorable error to con- 
sider this moral convulsion as a mere change of spec- 
ulative tenents^ or a mere struggle for liberty of con- 
science. Both these it did involve, undoubtedly ; 
but beneath these, vivifying and nerving these, was 
the sense of spiritual things, the experience of con- 
viction, conversion, holy awe, and holy joy, the gra- 
cious affections of the new creature, which pervaded 
countries and traversed a whole continent. It was 
the personal interest of souls in agony about escape 
from the wrath to come, which gave interest to the 
great questions between Popery and Reform. The 
sudden unveiling of the long hidden Bible before the 
laity was like the return of the sun upon a Green- 
land night. The entrance of the ray gave under- 
standing to the simple ; and in thousands of instan- 
ces, the rejection of Pelagian error and the accept- 
ance of Christ were contemporaneous and undistin- 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 35 

guishable exercises. Never certainly since the days 
of the early Christians was there so wide-spread a 
concern about religion ; never were there so many 
conversions. The pubUshed correspondence of the 
reformers, and particularly of Martin Luther and 
John Calvin, shows that a large part of their time 
was employed in giving counsel and consolation to 
inquiring, convinced, and tempted individuals ; and 
of their published works considerable portions are 
wholly employed in discussing those very points 
which have paramount interest in a season of gen- 
eral awakening in our day." 

Such was the progress of this amazing revival, 
that in face of the united opposition of the church and 
the empire, against all proscription, in spite of rack 
and fagot, the principles of evangelical religion soon 
overspread Germany, France, Switzerland, Holland 
and the British Isles. First came Lefevre, Farel, 
Brigonnet, Chatelain, and their friends, in France ; 
then Zuinglius, in Switzerland, and almost at the 
same moment the giant of the Reformation, Martin 
Luther, in Germany — each attended by a host 
of zealous and able coadjutors, both in church and 
state — Ecolampadius, Melancthon, Calvin — preach- 
ers, scholars, princes, and nobles. Soon came Tyn- 
dale, with his printed English Testament, in Eng- 
land ; Patrick Hamilton, George Wishart, and John 
Knox, in Scotland ; John Taussen, in Denmark ; 
John Laski, in Poland ; Olaus Petri and Laurentius 
in Sweden, and humbler names without number, in 
every quarter. All these arose at once, or within little 



36 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVA LS, 

more than a quarter of a century, by the mysterious 
Spirit and providence of God, and triumphantly 
established the truth of the gospel in the countries 
now Protest-ant. 

In Scotland, says Kirkton, ^^ The whole nation 
was converted by lump. Lo ! here a nation born in 
one day; yea, moulded into one congregation, and 
sealed as a fountain with a solemn oath and cove- 
nant.'* To the same purpose are the following re- 
flections of Fleming, in his Fulfilling of Scripture : 
*^ It is astonishing, and should be matter of wonder 
and praise for after ages, to consider that solemn 
time of the Reformation (in Scotland,) when the 
Lord began to visit his church. What a swift course 
the spreading of the kingdom of Christ had ; and 
how professors of the truth thronged in amidst the 
greatest threatenings of those on whose side author- 
ity and power then was.'* The testimony of Knox 
is not less decisive : "' Our very enemies can witness 
in how great purity God did establish his true reli- 
gion among us." 

In Holland the work was with power, especially 
in connection with some of the Baptist Reformers. 
Admitting the presence of errors and excesses, many 
of the men of this class were ** full of faith and of the 
Holy Ghost," and much people were by them ^* added 
unto the Lord.'' Leonard Bouwens, an eminent 
Baptist minister in Holland, who died in 1578, left in 
writing a list of upwards of ten thousand persons 
whom he had baptized. Menno Simon, and other 
laborers, introduced to the churches great multitudes 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 37 

of disciples, thousands of whom, after being unjustly 
reviled and persecuted, became martyrs in attestation 
of the truth. And thus everywhere the doctrine of 
justification without works ^' grew mightily and pre- 
vailed." 

It is to be said, however, that this work to a 
great extent receded. The Reformation itself need- 
ed reforming ; and inhering remnants of the papacy 
brought forth their legitimate fruits. Persecution 
also acted a painful part. The fires of martyrdom 
were frequently lighted in France, Holland and 
Switzerland ; while in England the severity of Eliz- 
abeth's government was so great that the separatists 
of all classes were scattered, and forced to hold their 
meetings in the utmost privacy. James L, though 
affecting zeal for Presbyterianism while in Scotland, 
was as bigoted and despotic as Elizabeth. ^ '* I will 
make them conform** said he [of the Puritans] '^ or I 
will hurry them out of the land, or else worse." 
And they either fled or kept themselves quiet, 
hoping almost against hope for the better times to 
come. 

How truly God remembered his cause, and again 
revived the work which had thus suffered a partial 
decline, we shall see in the next revival period. 

Second Revival Period: — 1600 — 1688. — Two 
years previous to this first date (1598) the famous 
Edict of Nantes by Henry IV., was promulgated, 



38 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



securing religious liberty to the French Protestants. 
Within these two dates fall the active lives of 
Richard Baxter, Robert Leighton, John Milton, 
John Owen, John Flavel, John Bunyan, John Howe, 
John Tillotson, and Philip James Spener, founder of 
the sect of the Pietists of Halle. With the latter 
labored the devoted Augustus Franke ; and there 
was a great and rapid spread of religion in some 
parts of the continent through their efforts. 

During this period also falls the working of the 
Act of Uniformity, passed in 1662, and in force about 
25 years. By it some two thousand ministers were 
ejected from their pulpits. In 1664 the Conventicle 
Act was passed ; and the next year the Five Mile 
Act. These inhuman decrees but testify to the zeal 
and piety of the men against whom they were in- 
tended to operate. Because they were *^ burning 
and shining lights,'' whose influence in converting the 
people to Christ was so great, these measures were 
instigated by the enemy of all good. 

The remarkable condition of things among our 
American ancestors was the simple consequence of 
the works of grace prevalent during this period. 
These men came out from amid great awakemtigs ; 
and after the first plantations, every arrival from the 
old country brought them news of the revivals which 
took place under the Bunyans and Baxters of Eng- 
land. It is worth mentioning that Richard Baxter 
was born in 1616, John Owen in 1616, John Bunyan 
in 1628, and John Howe in 1630; while the landing 
of the Pilgrims on our shore occurred in 1620. The 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 



39 



connection between the great facts here referred to 
is not less obvious than instructive. 

Pursuing the work still in the old world, it is re- 
freshing indeed to read the annals of God's grace in 
connection with the persecutions of the saints, espe- 
fciallyin Scotland, in the attempts to enforce the Uni- 
formity Act. The holy fire burning in the breast of 
Knox in the preceding century was rekindled, and 
its heat and light could not be hid. Thus in Stewar- 
ton, in 1625, a revival spread, called by the profane 
rabble '* Stewarton Sickness^ of which Fleming said, 
^* Truly this great spring tide, as I may call it, of the 
gospel, was not of a short time, but of some years' 
continuance ; yea, thus, like a spreading moor-burn, 
the power of godliness did advance from one place to 
another, which put a marvellous lustre on those parts 
of the country, the savor whereof brought many from 
other parts of^the land to see its truth. Another 
token for good to the suffering church of Scotland, 
occurred in the year 1628. At a meeting of the 
Synod of Edinburgh, in the spring of that year, it 
had been agreed to apply to his majesty that a gen- 
eral fast might be held all over the kingdom.'' 

A great blessing followed — most marked, perhaps, 
in the Kirk of Shotts, in June 1630, under the 
preaching of John Livingston, when a Convocation 
of ministers and people, for several days, was being 
held. Towards the close of the sermon, the audience 
and even the preacher himself, were affected with a 
deep, unusual awe, melting their hearts and subduing 
their minds, stripping off inveterate prejudices, awak- 



40 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



ing tne impenitent, producing conviction in the 
hardened, bowing down the stubborn, and imparting 
to many an enhghtened Christian a large increase 
of grace and spirituaHty. *^ It was known,'' says 
Fleming, "' as I can speak on sure ground, that near- 
ly ^z^^ /^^/;/^r^^ had at that time a discernible change 
wrought on them, of whom most proved lively Chris- 
tians afterwards. It was the sowing of a seed 
through Clydesdale, so that many of the most emi- 
nent Christians of that country could date their con- 
version, or some remarkable confirmation of their 
case, from that day.'' 

In 1625, there was also a remarkable revival in 
the North of Ireland. It took place under the labors 
of a band of faithful ministers, most of w^hom 
went over from Scotland — Brice, Glendenning, 
Ridge, Blair and others ; beginning in the province of 
Ulster^ which has ever since been the brightest spot 
on the map of Ireland. These preachers went forth 
in companies, laboring with apostolic zeal to evange- 
lize the land — and the Lord wrought through them 
mightily. This revival in the north of Ireland may 
with propriety be said to have been one of the 
most remarkable outpourings of the Spirit upon rec- 
ord. Says Stewart, ^^ these religious agitations con- 
tinued for a considerable time. The ministers were 
indefatigable in improving the favorable opportuni- 
ties thus offered for extending the knowledge and 
influence of the gospel. The people awakened and in- 
quiring, many of them desponding and alarmed, both 
desired and needed guidance and instruction. The 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 41 

judicious exhibition of evangelical doctrines and 
promises by these faithful men, was in due time pro- 
ductive of those happy and tranquillizing effects 
which were early predicted as the characteristics of 
gospel times. Adopting the beautiful imagery of the 
prophets, the broken-hearted were bound up and 
comforted, the spirit of bondage and of fear gave 
way to a spirit of freedom and of love, the oil of joy 
was poured forth instead of mourning, and the spirit 
of heaviness exchanged for the garments of praise 
and thankfulness.'' 

It would be gratifying to dwell upon God's revi- 
val work in England, while his Spirit was being thus 
poured out in Ireland and Scotland. How much 
like a description of some of our blessed modern re- 
vivals does the pen-picture of Baxter's work in Kid- 
derminster seem, as drawn in his writings. He tells 
of preaching twice on Lord's day, and on Thursday 
evening at his own private house, besides occasional 
sermons ; of "• resolving the doubts" of inquirers ; of 
praying with the awakened in httle companies ; of a 
"'* three hours" prayer-meeting with the young ; of 
the converts holding a Saturday evening prayer- 
meeting for the success of the word on the following 
day ; of once in a few weeks having a day of humil- 
iation ; of going through the parish, (with the help 
of his brethren) and visiting all the people, and in- 
structing them in the scriptures, and urging them, 
'^ with all possible engaging reason and vehemence to 
answerable affection and practice." He spent an 



42 HA NDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

hour with a family, — occupying *^ all the afternoon 
of Mondays and Tuesdays in this way/' 

As to results^ let him give his own story. " The 
congregation was usually full, so that we were led 
to build five galleries after my coming hither, the 
church itself being very capacious, the most com- 
modious and convenient that ever I w^as in. Our pri- 
vate meetings also were full. On the Lord*s day, there 
was no disorder to be seen in the streets, but you 
might hear a hundred families singing psalms and re- 
peating sermons as you passed through the streets. 
In a word, when I came thither first, there was about 
one family in a street that worshipped God and called 
on his name ; and when I came away, there were 
some streets where there was not more than 
one family in the side of a street that did not so, 
and that did not, in professing serious godliness, give 
us hopes of their sincerity. And of those families 
which were the worst, being inns and ale-houses, 
usually some persons in each did seem to be reli- 
gious. Though our administration of the Lord's sup- 
per was so orderly as displeased many, and the far 
greater part kept themselves away, yet we had six 
hundred that w^ere communicants, of whom there 
were not twelve that I had not good hopes of as to 
their sincerity ; and those few that came to our com- 
munion and yet lived scandalously, were excommu- 
nicated afterwards.'' 

We cannot farther sketch the refreshings from 
God's presence during this second period. 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 43 

Third Revival Period: 1730 — 1750. — John 
Wesley and Jonathan Edwards were born the same 
year (1703.) Charles Wesley was born two years 
after (1705), and George Whitfield nine years still 
later (1714). 

The appearance of these names on the scroll of 
history marks a revival period of wonderful interest. 

To go back a little, and accept the resume of 
another, the English church had been '* reformed " 
by act of Parliament under Edward VL, counter- 
reformed in the same way under Queen Mary, and 
re-reformed by Queen Elizabeth — the great body of 
the clergy holding fast their benefices with unscrupu- 
lous tenacity throughout these vicissitudes. .Nine- 
teen-twentieths of Queen Mary's clergy became 
Queen Elizabeth's clergy without compunction, and 
certainly without conversion. It is not surprising, 
therefore, that generally speaking both religious 
knowledge and morals, among people and clergy, 
remained at the lowest ebb ; and that the church 
establishment, after being purged of the most of its 
piety and learning by the Act of Uniformity, con- 
tinued to descend in the moral scale, carrying the 
people with it, until, after the accession of the House 
of Hanover, the scandalous condition of the country 
was perhaps unequalfed in Europe. Bishop Burnet 
says that candidates for ordination were commonly 
quite unacquainted with the Bible and unable even 
to give an account of the statements in the church 
catechism. When they re-appeared before him to 
obtain institution to a living, it was still apparent in 



44 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS 



many that they had not '^ read the Scriptures nor 
any other good book since they were ordained/' 
^^ Of all the ministers of religion he had seen in the 
course of his extensive travels — Papists, Lutherans, 
Calvinists, and Dissenters — they were the most 
remiss in their labors, and the least severe in their 
lives." 

The infidel works of Hobbes, Tindal, Collins, 
Shaftesbury, and Chubb, were in full circulation, and 
were re-enfoxced by the appearance of the three 
greatest giants in the cause of skeptical error which 
modern times have produced — Bolingbroke, Hume 
and Gibbon. The Encyclopedists had attempted the 
design of eradicating from the circle of the sciences 
every trace of Christian truth ; and the polite writers 
of France, headed by Voltaire and Rousseau, had 
decked the corrupt doctrines of the day with the 
attractions of eloquence and poetry, humor and 
satire, until they swept over the nation like a sirocco, 
withering not only the sentiments of religion, but 
the instincts of humanity, and subverting at last, in 
common ruin, the altar, the throne, and the moral 
protections of domestic life. 

Lady Mary Wortley wrote in 1710, that there were 
^^more atheists among the fine ladies than among 
the loosest sort of rakes." Ignorance and drunken- 
ness, it is stated, were the predominant qualities of the 
working classes ; licentiousness and infidelity of the 
higher. Montesquieu, who visited England in 1729- 
31, protested that the English had no religion at all. 
^' If any one," he said, "■' spoke of it, everybody 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 45 

laughed." Low as religion had sunk in France, he 
confessed that he himself had not enough of it to 
satisfy his countrymen ; and yet he found that he 
had too much to suit English society. 

Rev. Mr. Ryle, of the Church of England, says : 
'• These times were the darkest age that England has 
passed through in the last three hundred years. 
Anything more deplorable than the condition of the 
country, as to rehgion, morality, and high principle, 
it is very difficult to conceive. As to preaching the 
gospel, the distinguishing doctrines of Christianity — 
the atonement, the work and office of Christ and the 
Spirit — were comparatively lost sight of. The vast 
majority of sermons were miserable moral essays, 
utterly devoid of anything calculated to awaken, 
convert, sanctify, or save souls.'' 

And Isaac Taylor, in his history of Methodism, 
says that when Wesley appeared, ^* the Anglican 
church was an ecclesiastical system under which the 
people of England had lapsed into heathenism, or a 
state hardly to be distinguished from it.*' 

In America the religious condition was not much 
better. The primitive standard of morals and piety 
among the colonies of New England had sadly 
declined. From the first, isolated revivals had been 
enjoyed ; but there prevailed at this time a lamenta- 
ble ignorance of the essentials of practical religion. 

Dr. Increase Mather, in a book entitled, *'The 
G.lory departing from New England," printed in 
1702, says, ^^ We are the posterity of the good old 
Puritan Non-conformists in England, who were a 



46 ' HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

strict and holy people. Such were our fathers who 
followed the Lord into this wilderness. Oh New 
England, New England, look to it that the glory be 
not removed from thee, for it begins to go. Oh, 
degenerate New England, what art thou come to at 
this day! How are those sins become common in 
thee that once were not so much as heard of in this 
land ! " 

In a public lecture printed in 1706, Dr. Cotton 
Mather says, '' It is confessed by all who know any- 
thing of the matter — and Oh, why not with rivers 
of tears bewailed ? — that there is a general and a 
horrible decay of Christianity among the professors 
of it.'' And Rev. Samuel Blair, speaking of the 
state of things in Pennsylvania previous to 1740, 
declares that '' religion lay a dying and ready to 
expire its last breath of life.'* 

The causes of this degeneracy are but too appa- 
rent. They are well told by Rev. Joseph Tracy, in 
his excellent and standard ^* History of the Great 
Awakening.*' He says : 

^^ The New England churches had receded from 
the original standard. The Synod of 1662 had de- 
cided that persons baptized in infancy, understand- 
ing the doctrine of faith, and publicly professing their 
assent thereunto, not scandalous'in life, and solemnly 
owning the covenant before the church wherein 
they give up themselves and their children to the 
Lord, and subject themselves to the government of 
Christ in the church, — their children are to be bapti- 
zed, though the parent, thus owning the cove- 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 47 

nant, be avowedly yet unregenerate, and as such 
excluded from the Lord's Supper. This practice 
was immediately adopted by many churches, and, 
after a violent controversy, became general. This 
was very naturally followed by a still further innova- 
tion. In 1707, " the venerable Stoddard,'' of North- 
ampton, published a sermon, in which he maintained 
** That sanctification is not a necessary qualification 
to partaking of the Lord's Supper,'' and '' that the 
Lord's Supper is a converting ordinance." To this 
Dr. Increase Mather repHed the next year ; and in 
1709, Mr. Stoddard' published his*' Appeal to the 
Learned ; being a Vindication of the Right of Visi- 
ble Saints to the Lord's Supper, though they be 
destitute of a Saving Work of God's Spirit on their 
Hearts." The third book of the Appeal contains 
*' Arguments to prove, that sanctifying grace is not 
necessary in order to a lawful partaking of the Lord's 
Supper." Mr. Stoddard, in his sermon, enforced his 
arguments with the assertion, *' That no other coun- 
try does neglect this ordinance as we in New Eng- 
land ; and that in our own nation at home, [Eng- 
land,] so in Scotland, Holland, Denmark, Sweedland, 
Germany and France, they do generally celebrate the 
memorials of Christ's death." There had been 
strong tendencies towards such a practice for many 
years, and probably some instances of its virtual 
adoption ; but it now, for the first time, found an 
open and able advocate. It was strenuously op- 
posed ; but the desire to enjoy the credit and advan- 
tages of church membership, aided by Mr. Stoddard's 



48 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

influence, carried the day at Northampton, and the 
practice soon spread extensively in other parts of 
New England/' 

Thus, also, Mr. WilHams, a defender of the Half- 
way Covenant, in opposition to Jonathan Edwards, 
mentions two ends contemplated by Christ in ap- 
pointing the communion : viz. ** That such as have 
grace already should be under proper advantages to 
gain more, and that those who have 7ione should be 
under proper advantages to attain grace'' And Ed- 
wards himself, who utterly repudiated this view, was 
forced to lament, that '^ owiiing the covenant, as it is 
called, has in New England, it is to be feared, too 
much degenerated into a matter of mere form and 
ceremony ; it being visibly a prevailing custom for 
persons to neglect this until they come to be married, 
and then to do it for their credit's sake, and that 
their children may be baptized." In a word, it was 
held that the Christian church is but a continuation 
of the Jewish, the terms of admission remaining un- 
changed. The position laid down by Mr. Stoddard 
was practically maintained, viz. : '' That if unsancti- 
fied persons might lawfully come to the Pass- 
over, then such may lawfully come to the Lord's 
Supper, — and they who convey to their children a 
right to baptism, have a right themselves to the 
Lord's Supper, provided they carry inoffensively." 

One obvious tendency of this practice was to de- 
stroy church discipline ; for unconverted members, 
generally, would not be strict in calling others to ac- 
count for errors of doctrine or practice. And in his 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS. ^g 

reply to Mr. Fish, Isaac Backus testifies, '' that it is 
a professed rule with many ministers, not to deal 
with any person in the church for moral evil till he 
is convicted in the state'' 

It is easy to see that this system favored the en- 
trance of unconverted men into the ministry. If 
one was fit to be a member of the church ; if he was 
actually a member in good standing, why should he 
be excluded from the ministry? It could not be. 
The form of examining candidates as to their piety 
was still retained, but the spirit of it was dying away ; 
and Mr. Stoddard, in his ^'Appeal. to the Learned,'* 
argued from the fact which he took for granted, that 
^' unconverted ministers have certain official duties 
which they may lawfully perform.'' 

Amid scenes of such moral desolation in the old 
world and the new, it pleased God suddenly to appear 
in great mercy. And it is worthy of remark, that 
the blessing came almost simultaneously on A^nerica 
and Europe, 

First in the order of time there was a revival of 
considerable power in Freehold, N. J., in 1730, and 
in the three following years, under the labors of the 
Tennents. 

Next commenced the wonderful work in North- 
ampton, Mass., under Edwards, in the autumn of 
1734. Then, says Edwards, '^the Spirit of God be- 
gan extraordinarily to set in and wonderfully to 
work among us ; and there were very suddenly, one 
after another, five or six persons, who were, to all ap- 
pearance, savingly converted, and some of them 
3 



50 



H AX D BOOK OF REVIVALS. 



wrought upon in a \try remarkable manner." The 
news spread '^ hke a flash of Hghtning '' and there 
was a general concern in all parts of the town ; and 
*' souls did come, as it were, by flocks to Jesus 
Christ." The report of the state of things at North- 
ampton spread into other towns, where many 
"seemed not to know what to make of it.'' Many 
ridiculed, "and some compared what we call con- 
version to certain distempers.'' Great numbers, 
however, who came to Northampton and saw for 
themselves, were differently affected, and not a few 
of them, from various places, were awakened and ap- 
parently brought to repentance. In Tvlarch, 1735, 
the revival began to be general in South Hadley, and 
about the same time in Suffleld. It next appeared 
in Sunderland, Deerfield, and Hatfield ; and after- 
wards at West Springfield, Long ^rleadow, and En- 
field ; and then in Hadley Old Town, and in North- 
field. In Connecticut the work commenced in the 
first parish in Windsor, about the same time as at 
Northampton. It was remarkable at East Windsor, 
and ^' wonderful" at Coventry. Similar scenes were 
witnessed at Lebanon, Durham, Stratford, Ripton, 
New Haven, Guilford, -Mansfield, Tolland, Hebron, 
Bolton, Preston, Groton, and Woodbury. 

Edwards hoped that more than 300 in his parish 
were converted in the space of half a year. 

About the month of ]\Iay, 1735, the work began 
sensibly to decline ; although for months after fre- 
quent conversions continued. This awakening excited 
a lively interest among the friends of vital piety at a 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 5^ 

distance. Dr. Colman, of Boston, wrote to Mr. Ed- 
wards for an account of it. Having obtained one, he 
published it, and forwarded it to Dr. Watts and Dr. 
Guise in London, where its pubHcation exerted a 
strong influence for good. 

A longing existed in many places for similar 
awakenings ; and in the few next succeeding years 
they began to multiply in different parts of the 
country. Thus in 1739, in Newark, N. J., " the 
whole town in general was brought under an uncom- 
mon concern about their eternal interests.'' In Har- 
vard, Mass., the same year, a revival much like that 
at Northampton (only not so extensive) occurred, re- 
sulting in ** near a hundred" hopeful conversions. 

About the same time the work re-appeared in 
Northampton ; and gentle refreshings were experi- 
enced in Pennsylvania (particularly at Londonderry), 
and in New Brunswick, N. J., and some other places. 

Such, properly speaking, was the commencement 
of the ** Great Awakening.*' But it did not assume its 
peculiar power until George Whitfield arrived in 
Philadelphia in the early part of November, 1739. 

In that city, and in New York and New Jersey, 
where he at once began preaching, as well as in 
Georgia and South Carolina, thousands flocked 
together, anxious about their souls, and multitudes 
were added unto the Lord. 

In September, 1740, Whitfield visited New Eng- 
land, whither his fame had spread ; and here all the 
people were anxious to hear him. Arriving at New- 
port, R. I., he began immediately his usual course of 



52 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

incessant preaching. His sermons on his way to 
Boston spread his reputation, and when within ten 
miles* distance he was met by the governor's son 
and a train of the clergy and chief citizens, who es- 
corted him into the city. Belcher, the governor, re- 
ceived him' heartily, and became his warm friend. 
He was denied '' King's Chapel,'' the English Church ; 
but Webb, Foxcroft, Prince, Sewall, and all the 
other Puritan divines, welcomed him. His preach- 
ing had its usual effect. '' It was Puritanism revived," 
said old Mr. Walter, the successor of Eliot, the apos- 
tle to the Indians. "It was the happiest day I ever 
saw in my life," exclaimed Colman, after his first ser- 
mon. He *^ itinerated," says one who traced his 
course, northward from Boston, travelling one hun- 
dred and seventy miles, and preaching sixteen times 
in about a week. On his return the whole city 
seemed moved. High and low, clergymen and 
municipal officers, professors and students from the 
neighboring college of Cambridge, and people from 
the country towns, thronged to hear him, and ap- 
peared ready to "pluck out their eyes for him." 
Twenty thousand hearers crowded around him when 
he delivered his farewell discourse under the trees 
of the large Common. " Such a power and pres- 
ence of God with a preacher," wrote one who heard 
him, " I never saw before. Our governor has carried 
him from place to place in his coach, and could not 
help following him fifty miles out of town." 

He directed his course westward to Northampton, 
where he met a congenial spirit in Jonathan Edwards. 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS. 53 

Pulpits were open to him on all the route, and a 
*' divine unction " attended his preaching. From 
Northampton he passed down to New Haven, ad- 
dressing as he journeyed vast and deeply affected 
congregations. He arrived there October 23, when 
the Colonial Legislature was in session., and on the 
Sabbath preached before them and an immense 
throng, some of whom had come twenty miles to 
hear him. The aged governor was so deeply affected 
that he could speak but few words. With tears trick- 
ling down his cheeks like drops of rain, he exclaimed : 
*^ Thanks be to God for such refreshings on our way 
to heaven ! " 

By November 8th he was again in Philadelphia, 
preaching in a house which had been erected for him 
during his absence. On the 14th of December he 
reached the Orphan House, near Savannah. In 
seventy-five days he had preached a hundred and 
seventy-five sermons. '^ Never," he writes, "' did I 
see such a continuance of the divine presence in the 
congregations to which I have preached."" 

On the i6th of January, 1741, he again embarked 
at Charleston for England. 

Of course it is impossible to trace the progress 
of the revivals that sprang up in these years, all 
through New England and the Middle and Southern 
States. A large number of pastors in Eastern Mas- 
sachusetts, in 1745, printed and sent out a ''Testi- 
mony" to its blessed effects. It was estimated that 
at that time the population of all the colonics was 
about 2,000,000; and it was believed that the nMm- 



54 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS, 

ber of converts amounted to not less than fifty thou- 
sand. If so, they bore as great a proportion to the 
whole number of inhabitants, and would as much 
change the relative proportion of the religious and 
irreligious, as the conversion of six or eight hundred 
thousand would now. As one result, not less than 
150 new Congregational churches were established in 
twenty years. The increase of Baptist churches 
was still more wonderful, rising from a few to up- 
wards of 400 in number, with a total of 30,000 
members. The increase of the Presbyterians and 
other denominations in the Middle States appears to 
be less distinctly marked, but it was very great. 

Particularly towards the close of the above pe- 
riod, there were most objectionable outbreaks of ani- 
mal excitementjand also of untempered rehgious con- 
troversy, marring the gracious fruitage : but making 
every reasonable abatement, the awakening was a 
most merciful visitation from the Lord in its immedi- 
ate and lasting influence upon the young colonies of 
America. 

In England the work began in 1739. On Feb. 
17th of that year, Mr. Whitfield preached his first 
field sermon, at a place called Rose Green. He held 
open air meetings there and at Kingswood for several 
days, and was listend to by thousands and tens of 
thousands of astonished hearers. The first evidence 
he observed of having made any impression on his 
rude auditors, was their deep silence ; the next, and 
still more convincing, was his observation of the 
white gutters made by the tears which fell plentifully 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 55 

down their cheeks, black and unwashed from the 
coal-pits. John Wesley, [by whom, on his going to 
America, Whitfield was succeeded in this most in- 
teresting field of labor,] speaking of the harvest which 
it yielded in return to their conjoint prayers and la- 
bors, says, *^ Few persons have lived long in the 
west of England, who have not heard of the colliers 
of Kingswood as those neither fearing God nor re- 
garding man. But now we see that in the middle of 
February^ Kingswood was a wilderness, and that 
when the month of June arrived, it was already 
blossoming like the rose.'' 

After a short visit to the north of Wales, where 
he fell in with that wonderful Welsh preacher Howell 
Harris, who had been for three years ringing out the 
gospel notes from ^* tables, wells and hillocks,'* 
Whitfield traversed a great portion of England, 
preaching in bowling-greens, at market-crosses and 
on the highways ; thus preparing the way for those 
remarkable field operations of the Wesleys, in connec- 
tion with whom the arm of the Lord was so mightily 
revealed in the founding of Methodism. 

During the years 1740 and 1741 Wesley trav- 
ersed many parts of the kingdom, preaching almost 
daily, and sometimes four sermons on the Sabbath, 
Ingham, his companion in America, was abroad also, 
itinerating in Yorkshire, where he formed many soci- 
eties. Howell Harris pursued his labors successfully 
in Wales, and John Bennet preached extensively in 
Derbyshire and its surrounding counties. David 



56 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

Taylor, a man of signal usefulness, also began to 
travel and preach about this time. 

As to Whitfield, he thirteen times crossed the 
Atlantic ; and many thousands hung upon his lips, 
whether he was in London or other parts of Eng- 
land ; in Wales, Scotland, or Ireland ; in Georgia, or 
New Hampshire ; in Charleston, Philadelphia, New 
York, or Boston, or the country intervening. In 
some cases ten, and in others even twenty thou- 
sand, listened to his impassioned appeals ; and fruits 
unto eternal life were gathered all along his course ; 
until " he was not, for God took him.*' 

Of the gracious work of God in Scotland (par- 
ticularly at Cambuslang) in 1742, when the Lord 
sent plenteous rains upon many of the parishes, the 
annals of those times give most interesting narra- 
tives. 

In reading the ^' History of Revivals in the Brit- 
ish Isles*' (by Mrs. Duncan of Ruthwell) and the 
lives of Whitfield, Wesley, Lady Huntingdon, etc., 
one will see how truly upon those who sat in the 
shadow of death, the light suddenly arose, and ^* the 
thirsty land became springs of water.'' 

Fourth Revival Period: 1790 — 1842. — It 
has very properly been said that the year 1790 ush- 
ered in a new era, particularly for the United 
States. In the old country the fearful inroads of 
French infidelity had sapped the foundations of faith 
and hope in God, and, combined with other unto- 
ward influences, had made the hearts of the faithful 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS. 



57 



fail them for fear. The overspreading gloom about 
1790 aroused Hannah More, Bishop Porteus, Drs. 
Bogue, Andrew Fuller, Burder, and Rowland Hill, 
and kindred spirits in England, to noble evangelical 
efforts which greatly blessed the world. There was 
also a simultaneous work in Scotland, connected 
with the Haldanes and others. This was the direct 
cause of the formation of the Religious Tract Soci- 
ety, the British and Foreign and Bible Society, the 
London Missionary, and the Church Missionary (lo- 
cal) Societies. Also the first society for evangelizing 
the heathen — ^the Baptist Foreign Missionary Soci- 
ety. All these, and other kindred movements, were 
the fruits of the revivals about 1790 to 1792. 

The names of the two brothers referred to above, 
Robert and James Alexander Haldane, of Scotland, 
will be had in everlasting remembrance for their 
burning zeal and untiring labors in the service of 
Christ, and for the cheerfulness with which they 
consecrated their wealth, time and talents, in build- 
ing churches — tabernacles they were called — for the 
poor, and providing in every practicable way for 
their religious instruction. 

In the north of Wales, under the labors of Charles 
of Bala, *^ the apostle of North Wales," a ^^ great re- 
vival'' occurred in the beginning of 1 791. 

In America the vast extent of the revival bless- 
ings of this period can only be appreciated by con- 
sidering the deplorable condition into which we had 
fallen. It is true there were occasional '^streams in 
the desert " during the previous half century. But 

3* 



58 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



the Half Way Covenant still lingered in many of the 
Congregational churches, and Unitarianism had 
spread so generally that *^at the beginning of the 
present century, all the Congregational churches in 
Boston, with a single exception, had renounced the 
faith of the Puritans."^ 

It must be remembered, too, that the political con- 
dition of the country was such as constantly to agitate 
the public mind, and divert attention from spiritual 
things. A war between France and Spain and 
England lasted from 1744 to 1748. Soon after this, 
the controversy commenced between the colonies 
and the mother country, and continued until it finally 
broke out into open war in 1776. During the eight 
years of the revolutionary war every nerve of the 
country was strained to maintain the national con- 
flict. Thus from 1744 to 1783, during a period of 
almost 40 years, the public mind was continually 
agitated by political questions. These successive 
wars did much to break down the sanctity of the 
Sabbath, and corrupt the morals of the community. 

In the meantime, as might have been expected, 
French Infidelity^ aided by Paine's '^ Age of Reason," 
Voltaire's assaults upon Christianity, Volney's Ruins, 
and other blasphemous publications, had spread rap- 
idly, especially among the upper classes. The 
Illuminati^ so called, of France and Germany, who 
were secretly associated for the overthrow of all ex- 
isting religious institutions, had their affiliated soci- 
eties in this country, enrolling not a few men of 
* Hist, of Evangelical Churches in Boston, by Martin Moore. 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS. 



59 



high social and political standing and influence. " It 
became fashionable, in high places and low places, 
flippantly to prate against the Bible, and sneer at 
things sacred. and divine. Instead of the Scriptures, 
French philosophy claimed to be the rule of faith 
and life, and ignoring all the rights of God, was to 
usher in the glorious millennium of the rights of 
man." 

But when the enemy was thus coming in like a 
flood, the Lord lifted up a standard against him. 
About 1790 there were quite extensive works of 
grace in Western Pennsylvania and Southern and 
Western Virginia ; and a little later the work began 
in the Eastern States. In these times we meet with 
the names of Bellamy, Griffin, the younger Edwards, 
Backus, Robbins, Mills, Perkins, Strong, Porter, 
Hooker, Williams, Hawley, Manning, Dwight, Hyde, 
Emmons, Baldwin, Mason, Stillman, Livingston, 
Furman, Marshall, Nettleton, Lyman Beecher, and 
many others, who did not shun to declare all the 
counsel of God. 

In 1790 the First Baptist Church in Boston was 
graciously revived, and two hundred were added in 
the course of a few years.^ In 1792, ^* or the year 
before,'' says Dr. Griffin, ^' began the unbroken series 
of American revivals. There was a revival in North 

* Moore, in his History, says : " The revival in the First and Sec- 
ond Baptist churches was the first in that series of revivals v^herewith 
God blessed Boston in the present generation. The tide of error 
with which this city had been for half a century flooded then began 
to turn." 



6o HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS, 

Yarmouth, Me., in 1791. In the summer of 1792 
one appeared in Lee, in the county of Berkshire. 
The following November the first that I had the 
privilege of witnessing showed itself on the borders 
of East Haddam and Lyme, Conn., which apparently 
brought to Christ a hundred souls. I saw a con- 
tinued succession of heavenly sprinklings at New 
Salem, Farmington, Middlebury, and New Hartford, 
(all in Connecticut,) until, in 1799, I could stand at 
my door in New Hartford, Litchfield county, and 
number fifty or sixty congregations, laid down in one 
field of divine wonders, and as many more in differ- 
ent parts of New England." By 1802 remarkable 
revivals had spread through most of the western and 
southern States. And Dr. Nettleton says, '' during a 
period of four or five years, commencing with 1798, 
not less than one hundred and fifty churches in New 
England were favored with the special effusions of 
the Holy Spirit ; and thousands of souls, in the judg- 
ment of charity, were translated from the kingdom of 
Satan into the kingdom of God's dear Son." 

Distinct mention should here be made of that 
honored instrument in revivals just mentioned. Cer- 
tainly no other man did so much, under God, to pro- 
mote them as Asahel Nettleton ; who began to preach 
as an evangehst in 18 12, and continued his labors 
for upwards of twenty years. To him not inaptly 
apply Pollok's Hnes : 

A skilful workman he, 
In God's great moral vineyard : what to prune 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 6l 

With cautious hand he knew, what to uproot ; 
What were mere weeds, and what celestial plants 
Which had immortal vigor in them, knew. 

Oh, who can speak his praise ! great humble man ! 
He in the current of destruction stood, 
And warned the sinner of his wo ; led on 
Immanuers soldiers in the evil day, 
And with the everlasting arms embracing 
Him around, stood in the dreadful front 
Of battle high, and warred victoriously 
With death and hell. 

How wondrously the Lord carried forward his 
work during almost the whole period now under 
review, it is not in language to describe. There are 
extant particular narratives of local revivals in nearly 
all the States, even an epitome of which cannot here 
be given. Dr. Porter examined, in the preparation of 
his ^^ Letters on Revivals," the written or printed ac- 
counts of over one hundred and seventeen churches ; 
while some of these accounts speak of other places 
that were revived, — one says in fifty or sixty adja- 
cent towns, — of which, of course, no particulars are 
given. And still greater numbers were never report- 
ed at all. No part of the country, in proportion to 
its extent, shared so largely in these ''' times of re- 
freshing from the presence of the Lord," as Connec- 
ticut ; but other parts of New England enjoyed pre- 
cious showers of grace ; and during the same period 
powerful revivals prevailed, more or less extensively, 
in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, *the two Carolinas, and Georgia. 

Dr. Griffin tells of a revival in Newark, N. J., in 



62 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

1803, under his ministty, when ** twenty contiguous 
congregations experienced the mighty power of 
God." In 1807 he says he was all the while going 
from house to house, but felt that he was only ''' hold- 
ing a torch to the tinder which God had prepared/' 

Dr. Robbins says of Norfolk, Conn., in 1799, " the 
marvellous displays of divine power and grace were 
conspicuous beyond anything of the kind we had 
ever witnessed. A universal solemnity spread over 
the town, and seized the m^inds of almost all, both 
old and young. Great numbers were bowed with a 
sense of the presence of the Lord ; some rejoicing 
and praising God, others crying out in anguish of 
soul, ^ What must we do ? ' " 

A writer from New Hampshire in 1791 speaks of 
"a glorious revival" there "which began a year ago 
last spring, and has extended through several towns. 
The Rev. Samuel Shephard has baptized more than 
an hundred and fifty, and the work still goes on. 
There have been also very considerable revivals in 
many churches of other denominations." 

Dr. Hyde says of Lee, Mass., in 1792, that a mar- 
vellous work was begun, and it bore the decisive 
marks of being GocTs work, " So great was the excite- 
ment, though not yet known abroad, that into what- 
ever section of the town I now went, the people in 
that immediate neighborhood would leave their 
worldly employments at any hour of the day, and 
soon fill a large room. Before I was aware, and 
without any previous appointment, I found myself 
in the midst of a solemn and anxious assembly." 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS. 63 

In Boscawen, N. H., Halifax and Rutland and 
Rupert, Vt., and other towns, *^ surprising manifesta- 
tions of the Lord " were reported about the same 
time. 

Drs. Dewitt, and Mason, of N. Y., with others, 
tell of gracious works in that city in their charges ; 
and says Harlan Page, under date of January 24, 
1831: *'The Lord appears now to be coming down 
on all parts of this great city, to arouse his children 
and to awaken sinners. Thousands of Christians 
here are, I think, praying as they never prayed 
before. Public general meetings commenced yester- 
day afternoon, and are to be continued through the 
week. Conversions are occurring in all parts of the 
city. Churches are daily crowded to overflowing, 
and a most fixed and solemn attention is given to 
the dispensation of the truth." 

That year the old Chatham-street Theatre, (a 
haunt of obscenity, blasphemy, and vice,) was pur- 
chased by a committee for purposes of worship. 
Two gentlemen called on the lessee of the theatre 
and proposed to buy his lease. '^ What for?" said 
he. " For a church." The astonished man broke 
into tears, and exclaimed, ** You may have it, and I 
will give $1,000 towards it." The arrangement was 
completed. At the close of a morning rehearsal, 
the beautiful hymn, ^^The Voice of Free Grace," 
was sung, and Mr. Tappan announced to the actors 
*that that evening there would be preaching on that 
stage. A pulpit was placed on the spot where dying 
agonies had often been counterfeited in tragic mock- 



64 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



"ery ; and in front of the footlights of the stage were 
seats for the inquirers. 

The first prayer-meeting in the theatre was 
attended by 800 persons. On the 6th of May the 
house was dedicated to the service of God. Mr. 
Finney preached from the text, *' Who is on the 
Lord's side?" For seventy successive nights he 
preached there to immense audiences. The bar- 
room was changed into a prayer-room^ and the first 
man who knelt there poured forth these words, '^ O 
Lord, forgive my sins : the last time I was here 
thou knowest I was a wicked actor on this stage ; 
O Lord, have mercy on me! '' For three years this 
building was used for revival meetings. 

That revival brought into the churches of New 
York 2,000 souls, many of whom became prominent 
in great benevolent movements. 

Passing to other localities, we find Dr. Furman 
of S. C, telling of revivals there in the early part of 
the century. Rev. Mr. Stevenson describes mighty 
works in Pennsylvania, and Mr. Woodward embod- 
ies in a publication ^^ surprising accounts" of revivals 
in Kentucky and Tennessee, while others write of 
the same in Georgia, North Carolina, and almost all 
sections of the country, about the same time. And 
so *^ the word of the Lord grew and multiplied." 

Interruptions there were during the long period 
now under our notice ; and at some seasons, [e. g., 
1 8 14 and 183 1,] the spiritual harvest was more abun- 
dant than at others ; but upon the field as a whole 
Christ was triumphing gloriously. As Dr. Gardiner 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS. 65 

Spring, of N. Y., remarks, the period commencing 
with the year 1792 and terminating with 1842, was 
a memorable period in the history of the American 
church. Scarcely any portion of it, but was gra- 
ciously visited by copious effusions of the Holy 
Spirit. At this last mentioned date (with the pre- 
vious year) the city of Boston was wonderfully 
blessed, and four thousand converts were added to 
the evangelical churches. 

It has been estimated that from 181 5 to 1840, 
the Spirit was poured out upon from four to five 
hundred churches and congregations^ on an average, 
annually ; and that during some particular years 
'* ixo'iXi forty to fifty thousand were added by profes- 
sion in a single twelvemonth." 

Thus, whatever view we take of the work, this 
was a most gracious period in the religious history of 
Christendom. Besides the rich harvests of priceless 
souls then gathered, these revivals stand directly con- 
nected, as we shall see in the next chapter, with all 
those aggressive movements which are turning the 
world's wildernesses into fruitful fields. 

Fifth Revival Period : 1857— 1860. — It is an 
interesting fact in revivals that they frequently suc- 
ceed some great calamity; — a prevailing epidemic, a 
general financial embarrassment, or the like. 

It was so with the wonderful work of grace to 
which we now come. The churches in this coun- 
try were, to an alarming extent, characterized by 
coldness and conformity to the world. The greed 



66 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

of gain amounted to a mania; and it filled not only 
the commercial centres, but the villages ; in fact the 
whole land. Speculation was at fever-heat, and the 
wildest projects turned men's brains, and drove them 
recklessly on in the race for riches. As a natural 
result, frauds, defalcations and failures became com- 
mon ; until finally the crash came, and the castles in 
the air, as well as the soHd accumulations, were seen 
everywhere toppling to the fall. As with the twink- 
ling of an eye, golden dreams vanished and million- 
aires became bankrupts. 

God meant it for good. He would drive out 
mammon that himself might reign. He made poor 
the merchant princes that they might be rich in 
heavenly gain. 

And now that the wheels of industry stood still, 
and the counting-houses in the metropolis were de- 
serted, and gloom and disappointment settled down 
like a pall, a voice was heard whispering to the men 
of weary brain, ^* Come ye yourselves apart^and rest 
awhile." *^ Is any man afflicted, let him pray.'* 
Subdued, broken, tender, they answered, ^^ Yes, for 
he hath wounded, and he can heal." 

A little room in the lower part of New York, and 
immediately in the drifts of trade, on the third floor 
of the '' Consistory " of the old Reformed Dutch 
Church, Fulton street, was thrown open for a weekly^ 
noon-day prayer meeting. It was one of the earliest 
manifestations of a special religious interest. 

At first the good down-town city missionary, Mr. 
Lanphier, who made the appointment, met there 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS. 6/ 

three persons ; then six, then twenty. Next week 
they assembled on the floor below, and the Business 
Men's Prayer meeting began to attract attention. 
One man (speaking for many) said : ^' Prayer never 
was so great a blessing to me as it is in this time ; I 
should certainly either break down or turn rascal, 
except for it. If I could not get some half hours 
every day to pray myself into a right state of mind, I 
should certainly either be overburdened and disheart- 
ened, or do such things as no Christian man ought 
to do.'' 

A call was now made for a daily meeting. It 
was received with enthusiasm, and the meeting- 
room overflowed, and filled a second^ and eventually 
a third room, in the same building ; making three 
crowded prayer-meetings, one above another, in ani- 
mated progress at one and the same hour. The 
seats were all filled, and the passages and entrances 
began to be choked with numbers, rendering it 
scarcely possible to pass in or out. The hundreds 
who daily went away disappointed of admission, 
created a visible demand for more room ; and the 
John Street Methodist Church and lecture-room 
were both opened for daily noon prayer-meetings, by 
a committee of the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion, and were crowded at once with attendants. 
Meetings were multiplied in other parts of the city ; 
and the example spread to Philadelphia, to Boston, 
and to other cities, until there was scarcely a town 
of importance in the United States, (save a few in 
the South,) in which the Business Men's Daily Pray- 



68 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS, 

er-meeting was not a flourishing institution, and a 
leading agency in awakening public interest to re- 
ligion. 

These morning or noon-day prayer-meetings were 
a marked feature of the revival. And it should be 
added, that they were union prayer-meetings, attend- 
ed by all classes, without respect to denominational 
differences. The middle walls of partition were 
never before so broken down ; and evangelical Chris- 
tians of every name found they could come together 
and pray for the outpouring of the Spirit without 
any sacrifice of church order. 

Requests for prayer were another marked feature. 
There was scarcely a meeting anywhere without 
such being sent forward ; and often scores of them 
were presented. The following are samples : 

*' Prayers are requested for a young man who has 
thus far resisted all persuasions to attend these 
meetings, and who is in these rooms to-day for the 
first time." 

'* A sister, who has been praying daily three 
years for the conversion of an only brother, asks an 
interest in your prayers." 

*' A brother requests the earnest prayers of this 
meeting in behalf of a loved but thoughtless sister." 

*•' Prayers are requested for a sister who is given 
to intemperance." 

" A few praying souls in Spring street Presbyte- 
rian Church, deeply bewailing the spiritual desolation 
of that Zion, beseech you to unite with them in 
wrestling and importuning on her behalf. Brethren 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS. 



69 



and sisters, pray for us, and if you can, come over and 
help us." 

The aid of the newspapers was another feature 
of this great work. The secular papers all spoke of 
it ; and some of them made it a point to report the 
meetings fully. A pastor wrote to one of the papers 
thus: *^ The glorious summary, with the editorial re- 
marks on the '^ Great Revivals," in your paper of 
the 4th instant, stirred my soul so powerfully that I 
felt something more must be done in our village ; and 
I have called on the other ministers, and we have 
started a meeting, and the dews are falling on us.'* 

The telegraph was also called into requisition. 
The reader can imagine the effect of such dispatches 
as these : 

New York, March 12, 1858, 12I o'clock, p, m. 

To the Philadelphia Union Prayer-meeting in Jayne's 
Hall: 

Christian Brethren— The New York John 
street Union Meeting sends you greeting in brotherly 
love. *^ The inhabitants of one city shall go to an- 
other, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the 
Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts — I will go also.'* 
*' Praise the Lord — call upon His name — declare his 
doings among the people — make mention that his 
name is exalted.*' 



Benj. F. Manierre, , ^ , 
Cephas Brainard, ^ ^^"^'^'- 



?}- 



To this dispatch the following reply was received, 
and read to the meeting in John street : 



70 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



Philadelphia, March 12, 12 1 o'clock, p. m. 

Jayne's Hall Daily Prayer-Meeting is crowded ; 
upwards of 3000 present. With one mind and heart 
they glorify our Father in heaven for the mighty 
work He is doing in our city and country, in the 
building up of saints and the conversion of sinners. 
The Lord hath done great things for us, whence joy 
to us is brought. May he who holds the seven stars 
in his right hand, and who walks in the midst of the 
churches, be with you by his Spirit this day. 

Grace, mercy and peace be with you. 

Geo. H. Stuart, Chairman of Meeting. 

The telegraph offices sent messages to all parts 
of the country, announcing conversions. Many of 
them were exceedingly tender and touching. These 
are samples : '' Dear mother, the revival contin- 
ues, and I, too, have been converted.'' '^ My dear 
parents, you will rejoice to hear that I have found 
peace with God." " Tell my sister that I have come 
to the cross of Christ." /*At last I have obtained 
faith and peace." 

The lay element was prominent in this revival. 
The workers, mostly, were laymen. From the be- 
ginning, ministers of the gospel cheerfully stood by 
and saw the principal share of labor in the hands of 
their lay brethren. 

The pervasiveness of the work was striking. In 
manufactories, counting-rooms, jobbing-houses, and 
business firms of all kinds, prayer-meetings were 
established and souls converted. New churches 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS. j\ 

were springing up, and old ones, were strengthened. 
The substance of letters received from every State 
of the Union was revivals, glorious and wide-spread 
revivals ! In some places day-schools were suspend- 
ed, and teachers, scholars, and parents occupied the 
school-houses daily for worship. 

Again ; great sobriety characterized the work. 
There were few wild and fanatical excitements to 
mar the beautiful and blessed work of the Spirit. 
*^ The majesty of a just God overshadowed the cross, 
and though the way to that cross was open and free, 
it was yet a solemn way for the guilty sinner to 
tread in.'* 

Another characteristic of the work was — that si?i' 
ners seemed readily to find peace in Christ. Those 
deep, long-continued, despairing convictions of sin 
ivhich arise from a profound view of the holiness of 
God's law and the strictness of his claims upon us, 
were not prominent in this work. The love of Christ 
was the constraining power. Almost before they 
called he answered. 

The rapidity and power of this revival formed 
another glorious feature. Certainly never before 
were our great cities such radiating centres of spirit- 
ual light and heat. God seemed everywhere to go 
before his people, and prepare the way ; and hence 
revivals instantaneously sprang up in city, town and 
hamlet, throughout the land. 

The results^ of course, cannot be recorded ; not 
even the number of conversions. In New York State 
200 towns were reported as having revivals, with 



72 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



6,000 conversions. In the city, all the churches were 
largely increased in membership, in some cases 50, 
100, 200, 350, being received upon profession. Rev. 
George Duffield, Jr., of Philadelphia, communicated 
some very interesting facts to the Fulton street 
prayer meeting. He had been employed, as one of 
a committee, to compile the facts of the revival as 
pertaining to that city. He found that 3,010 had 
been added by profession to one denomination, 
1,800 to another, 1,500 to another, 1,200 to another, 
and so on, till the aggregate was above 9,000. He 
beheved there had been in that city 10,000 conver- 
sions within that current year. 

In New Jersey the work was very extensive. 
The writer of this volume had the joy of receiving 
into the church of his charge (First Baptist) 236 
souls upon profession. He wrote thus to the New- 
ark Daily Advertiser : '* As a matter of permanent 
record and grateful remembrance, I have thought it 
well to ascertain facts on this point as fully as possi- 
ble. Inquiries have been addressed to thirty pastors 
and teachers in the city, as to the probable num- 
ber of conversions, within the limits of their respect- 
ive congregations. The figures show an aggregate 
of 2,685. Several ministers have not been reached ; 
and it is fair to put the number unreported at 100 ; 
which would make an aggregate of some 2,800 hope- 
ful conversions." 

Rev. Dr. Scott, (First Reformed Church,) stated 
that the conversion of persons of the strongest and 
maturest mind in the community was among the 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS. 



73 



characteristics of the work in Newark. If he had at- 
tempted to select from his congregation forty-five of 
its strongest minds, he would have generally taken 
the forty-five who had united with his church by 
profession. Sixty towns in the State reported revi- 
vals, with S,ooo to 6,000 conversions. 

Statistics from other States need not be given, as 
these are but examples. It is estimated that 100,000 
conversions occurred in the short space of four 
months ; and that during a year from the commence- 
ment of the work, not less than 400,000 souls were 
brought to Christ. Some writers have added one 
quarter to the above numbers. Thus much for the 
United States. 

Abroad, the work was also extensive and power- 
ful. Dr. J. W. Alexander writes that he was in Great 
Britain before the work arose here ; and that the 
increase of endeavors to carry the gospel to the 
poor, in their most abject retreats — the continual use 
of open-air preaching — the rise of several evangelical 
ministers upon whose words the multitude were 
disposed to hang — the services in Exeter Hall, and 
even the opening of Westminster Abbey, spoke of 
zeal on one hand, and roused attention on the other. 
He once saw an assembly of ten thousand souls 
giving rapt attention at the Surrey Gardens to the 
great truths of salvation. 

Such paragraphs as these appeared in the English 
papers : ** A meeting for prayer is now held daily at 
two o'clock, P. M., in the County Rooms, Aberdeen, 
specially with a view to plead for the outpouring of 



74 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

the Holy Spirit; it is said that it is attended by 
above a thousand persons daily." *^ The year 1859 
will be remembered as a year of a fruitful harvest of 
souls in many countries in Europe. In Wales, it is 
estimated that the number of converts in the various 
denominations of orthodox Christians was from 
30,000 to 35,000, a large number out of a population 
of a little over a million. It is known that 25,000 
were added to the Welsh Calvinistic church. The 
instances of backsHding, in both Wales and Ireland, 
have been very rare, though many of the converts 
were from the lowest orders of society. The good 
effects of the revival in Ireland, witnessed in the^ 
remarkable freedom from lawsuits and crime, are 
testified to by many public men connected with 
the courts, who attribute it to the moral and religious 
movements of last year. At the last -assizes in the 
county Antrim, there was not a single prisoner for 
trial." 

Rev. Dr. Baron Stow, of Boston, in i860, wrote 
thus as to Ireland, which he had just the year before 
visited: It has been estimated that in Belfast, a 
city of 130,000 souls, there are ten thousand con- 
verts. These are being received slowly and cau- 
tiously into the churches. God has distinguished 
this work in the North of Ireland by extraordinary 
manifestations of his own sovereign, mysterious 
agency. There were at many points the usual ante- 
cedents of faithful teaching and earnest prayer ; but 
the blessing came in unexpected forms, lighted 
down in uninviting places, and produced unantici- 



HISTORICAL VIE W OF RE VI VALS, 75 

pated effects ; and few, either of the ministry or the 
laity, were prepared to-deal intelligently with the cases 
which were suddenly multiplied. In almost every 
place the work commenced among the less instructed 
and more degraded classes, and was characterized, in 
its incipient stage, by physical accompaniments that 
amazed the inexperienced, alarmed the timid, and 
impressed with an indefinable awe nearly the whole 
community. But the changes wrought in character, 
speech, and conduct, soon became too demonstrative 
to admit a doubt as to the Higher Agency that had 
produced them ; and when God had made himself 
known as the Author of the moral transformations, 
and had thoroughly awakened attention to his claims, 
he gradually withdrew the physical operations, and 
the work assumed a more purely spiritual type. His 
design evidently comprehended more than the reli- 
gious improvement of a province, or the salvation of 
thousands of its people. He would make a demon- 
stration of his supremacy and power that should 
affect Christendom, and bring glory, on a broad 
field, to the riches of his grace. Many hundreds, not 
only from the unblessed districts of Ireland, but also 
from England and Scotland, and even from the Con- 
tinent, hastened to the scene of the Spirit's wonder- 
working ; and, while many remained longer than they 
intended, co-operating with the overtasked laborers, 
few returned without the conviction that Ulster was 
pervaded by the power of the Highest. 

The bishop of Hereford (Dr. Hampden) the same 
year, in his triennial charge to his clergy, warns them 



y6 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

against '* the movement in the North of Ireland," 
and against^^ similar agitation in his own county and 
neighborhood," adding that "' he greatly distrusts the 
work, and he is strengthened in this feeling by the 
recollection of the scenes which took place during the 
agitation which was commenced and carried on by 
John Wesley." ^* Many instances of insincerity,'' the 
Bishop says, ^^ were found among the followers of 
Wesley." And the Saturday Review ridiculed the 
work (thus acknowledging its extent) in saying, 
'* Undoubtedly the thing is catching. An enthusiast, 
we suppose, emits some subtle aura which falls upon 
the nerves, or the gastric plexus^ or the hysteric 
organs, which are predisposed for receiving or imbib- 
ing the poison.'' 

On the other hand, in Dr. Gibson's ^^Year of 
Grace,'' [a. carefully prepared work,] we have abun- 
dant evidence of the power and genuineness of these 
awakenings in Ireland and Scotland. 

The following abstract shows the comparative 
number, both of congregations visited by the revival, 
and of individuals added to the Church in connection 
with them, in the several counties of Ulster : 



Antrim, . . 8i ( 


"ongregations. 


4353 


Down, . . 68 


« 


2107 


Derry, . . 36 


(1 


1258 


Tyrone, . . 42 


(( 


1189 


Armagh, . 27 


tt 


625 


Donegal, . 23 


u 


502 


Monaghan, . 18 


tt 


412 


Cavan, . . 10 


tt 


169 


Fermanagh, I 


tt 


* 21 




tt _ 





306 " 10,636 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, yy 

America, however, was most favored in this gra- 
cious visitation, and many will recognize in the 
following pen-picture, taken from one of the religious 
journals of March 1858, an accurate portraiture of 
the well remembered scenes of those days: 

"Such a time as the present was never known 
since the -days of the Apostles, for revivals. The 
prostration of business, the downfall of Mammon, the 
great god of worship to the multitudes in this land, 
both in and out of the church, the sinfulness and 
vanity of earthly treasures, as the supreme good, 
have come home to the hearts and consciences of 
the millions in our land with a power that seems 
irresistible. Revivals now cover our very land, 
sweeping all before them, as on the day of Pentecost, 
exciting the earnest and simultaneous cry from thou- 
sands, What shall we do to be saved? They 
have taken hold of the community at large to such 
an extent that now they are the engrossing theme 
of conversation in all circles of society. Ministers 
seem baptized with the Holy Ghost and preach with 
new power and earnestness, bringing the truth home 
to the conscience and life as rarely before. Meet- 
ings are held for prayer, for exhortation, and for 
conversation, with the deepest interest, and the 
most astonishing results. Not only are they held in 
the church and from house to house, but in the 
great marts of trade and centres of business. Halls 
are selected, where men may leave their worldly 
cares for an hour, and by multitudes, without form 
or ceremony, drop in, fall on their knees and pray. 



78 • HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

With a few words of exhortation and entreaty, and 
then go about their usual business. In New York 
there is a most astonishing interest in all the churches, 
seeming as if that great and populous and depraved 
city was enveloped in one conflagration of divine 
influence. Union prayer meetings are held in the 
principal centres, and here thousands on 'thousands 
gather daily. Prayer and conference meetings are 
held in retired rooms connected with large commer- 
cial houses, and with the best effects. The large 
cities and towns generally from Maine to California 
are sharing in this great and glorious work. There 
is hardly a village or town to be found where a 
special divine power does not appear to be displayed. 
It really seems as if the Millennium was upon us in 
its glory.** 

At one of the great meetings for prayer, held at 
midday in the city of New York, a gentleman from 
Philadelphia rose and read, with thriUing effect, the 
following hymn. It was but another indication of 
the times : 

Where'er we meet, you always say 

What's the news? what's the news? 
Pray what's the order of the day? 

What's the news? what's the news? 
Oh ! I have got good news to tell ; 
My Saviour hath done all things well. 
And triumphed over death and hell. 

That's the news ! that's the news ! 

The Lamb was slain on Calvary, 

That's the news ! that's the news ! 
To set a world of sinners free. 

That's the news ! that's the news ! 



HISTORICAL VIEW OF REVIVALS, 

'Twas there His precious blood was shed, 
'Twas there He bowed His sacred head ; 
But now He's risen from the dead, 
That's the news I that's the news \ 

To heav'n above the Conqueror's gone. 
That's the news ! that's the news \ 

He's passed triumphant to His throne. 
That's the news ! that's the news \ 

And on that throne He will remain 

Until, as Judge He comes again. 

Attended by a dazzling train, 

That's the news \ that's the news ! 

His work's reviving all around — 
That's the news ] that's the news ! 

And many have redemption found — 
That's the news i that's the news ! 

And since their souls have caught the flame. 

They shout Hosanna to His name ; 

And all around they spread His fame— 
That's the news \ that's the news ! 

The Lord has pardoned all my sin — 
That's the news \ tliat's the news ! 
I feel the witness now within — 

That's the news i that's the news I 
And since He took my sins away. 
And taught me how to watch and pray, 
I'm happy now from day to day — 
That's the news ! that's the news ! 

And Christ the Lord can save you, too— 
That's the news ! that's the news ! 

Your sinful heart He can renew — 
That's the news ! that's the news ! 

This moment, if for sins you grieve. 

This moment, if you do believe, 

A full acquittal you'll receive — 
That's the news I that's the news ! 



79 



8o HANDBOOK OF RE VIVA LS. 

And now, if any one should say, 

What's the news? what's the news? 
Oh., tell him you've begun to pray — 

That's the news ! that's the news I — • 
That you have joined the conquering band. 
And now with joy at God's command, 
You're marching to the better land. 

That's the news ! that's the news ! 

It would be pleasant to dwell still longer on 
God's wondrous works during this last revival 
period ; but our limits forbid. 

In the chapter that follows are crystallized some 
of the more marked results of the several seasons of 
grace which have now been brought under review. 

'' O Lord, Revive Thy Work ! '' 



CHAPTER III. 

WHAT WE OWE TO REVIVALS. 

"NT O one can study the history of revivals and not 
be impressed with their mighty influence upon 
the destiny of the race. Not to speak of those of prim- 
itive times, what would have been the condition of 
the world to-day but for the great Reformation, the 
spirit of which, as we have seen, was but a series of 
revivals of religion ? And what had been the state 
of this country, and of other lands, had not the Holy 
Ghost been poured down in those gracious revival 
periods recorded in the previous chapter? Let us, 
under several particulars, see what we owe to these 
refreshings from the presence of the Lord. 

I. Society at large has been uplifted by revivals. 
Godliness has the promise of this life, as well as of 
that to come. When the divine grace is abundantly 
downpoured it is felt at the very springs of society, 
and there cannot but be a corresponding elevation. 
Exalted to be the sons of God, and thrilled with new 
impulses, men burst asunder the chains of superstition, 
tyranny, and vice, and come into a higher and broad- 
er development. The fountains of life arc purified, 
and a social and civil renovation is the result. It is 
impossible that the heart be turned from the love 



82 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

of sin to the love of holiness without an external 
reformation. 

Hence the wonderful changes for good which 
are reported in pagan- or papal lands, where the 
gospel takes effect. And hence the cases under 
our eyes where revivals have renovated, not only the 
moral but physical aspect of a community; driven 
away vice, encouraged industry, promoted intelli- 
gence, and caused the social virtues to prevail where 
before were discord and unblushing crime. 

We boast of the progress of this age; and nothing 
is more astonishing than the recent advancement in 
science, philosophy, invention, learning, philanthropy, 
and civil jurisprudence. But it would be an inter- 
esting line of thought to show how this is attributa- 
ble, in great part, to the religious awakenings of the 
last three hundred years. Our limits forbid it here ; 
but let it be noted that aroused i7itellect has been 
back of all this : and that revivals of rehgion are 
favorable to intellectual action, not only as they 
bring the mind at the time into vigorous exercise, and 
into contact w^ith the mighty truths of God's word, 
but as they originate in the subjects of them moral 
feelings and habits which are peculiarly favorable to 
the acquisition of useful knowledge. 

When Wickliffe and his successors reopened the 
Bible, the revival of letters took place. Twenty-four 
universities arose in less than a hundred years. In 
the midst of this movement, the discovery of the 
art of printing gave a new impetus to literature^ 
and provided the swift and subtle agent by which 



WHAT WE OWE TO REVIVALS, gj 

the infant Reformation was to surprise and over- 
power its great adversary unawares. At the same 
juncture the Mohammedan power, overwhelming 
the Eastern metropolis, swept the remnant of Greek 
learning into Europe. Finally, about the last half 
of the same memorable century, Luther, Zuinglius, 
Cranmer, Melancthon, Knox, and Calvin, with 
other mighty champions of truth, stepped forward 
to blow the trumpet of salvation and summon to 
new action the world's thought. 

In due time Owen, Bunyan, Baxter, Milton, Leigh- 
ton, Flavel, and other luminaries of the seventeenth 
century, burning with the love of God, gave to the 
world for the first time an evangelical literature, and 
thereby a mighty acceleration to human progress. 
We hazard little, remarks an authority, in saying that 
for doctrinal, practical, and experimental religious in- 
struction and authorship, it was the golden age in the 
fatherland. What other age has produced so many 
volumes full of the marrow of the gospel, and indited 
as it were so close on the verge of heaven ? What 
thousands have been guided in the Way of Life by 
Bunyan's '* Pilgrim's Progress," and his *^ Grace 
Abounding to the Chief of Sinners ;" and what thou- 
sands more have had the fulness of Christ revealed 
to them in Flavel's '' Fountain of Life" and '' Method 
of Grace.'' 

What would our own land, as well as Great Brit- 
ain, have been but for this revival period in the sev- 
enteenth century? 

Then came that great uplifting of the English 
4 



84 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

people by the revival under Whitfield and the Wes- 
leys. John Wesley wrote theology, Charles Wesley 
put it into song, and Whitfield preached it to the 
masses. There was need enough of their best efforts ; 
for the Establishment, with all its learning, opulence 
and dignity, was doing next to nothing for the eleva- 
tion of the ignorant communities. 

In Howitt's Rural Life of England is the follow- 
ing, with reference to the times under remark, which 
shows the elevating influence of revivals of religion : 

*^ It is in the rural districts into which manufacto- 
ries have spread — that are partly manufacturing and 
partly agricultural — that the population assumes its 
worst shape. And the Methodists have done much 
to check the progress of demoralization in these dis- 
tricts. They have given vast numbers education ; 
they have taken them away from the pot-house and 
the gambling-house ; from low haunts and low pur- 
suits. They have placed them in a certain circle, 
and invested them with a degree of moral and 
social importance. They have placed them where 
they have a character to sustain, and higher objects 
to strive after ; where they have ceased to be oper- 
ated upon by a perpetual series of evil influences, and 
have been brought under the regular operation of 
good ones. They have rescued them from brutality 
of mind and manners, and given them a more refined 
association on earth, and a warm hope of a still 
better existence hereafter. If they have not done 
all that could be desired, with such materials, they 
have done much, and the country owes them much." 



WHAT WE OWE TO REVIVALS. 



85 



This is a striking attestation to the beneficent in- 
fluences of genuine revivals. And impartial history- 
justifies the award. For the methods and means of 
education were improved, and the masses hunger- 
ing for knowledge soon found their appetite grati- 
fied by public libraries, and the rapid issue of hymns 
and sermons, and treatises upon questions of current 
interest, and upon science and literature in a popu- 
larized form. In fine, the trumpets of a grand 
moral, intellectual, and social resurrection were 
sounded throughout the realm by this spiritual 
awakening; and the people uprose to higher aims 
and destinies. 

It would be impossible to describe how much we 
in this country owe to the same revival for our high 
position. The American Colonies felt the impulse 
of the intellectual advancement resulting from the 
awakenings in the old world, and were vastly indebt- 
ed to them. Nor in the absence of such revivals 
could it have been said, 

" When, driven by oppression's rod 
Our fathers fled beyond the sea. 
Their care was first to honor God, 
And next to leave their children free. 
Above the forest's gloomy shade 
The altar and the school appeared : 
On that the gifts of faith were laid. 
On this their precious hopes were reared.** 

In fact, the Pilgrims and Puritans were them- 
selves the product of those heavenly visitations. 
So that but for them we had not had such fore- 



86 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

fathers, of brain force, and conscience, and courage, 
and adamantine faith, and heroic virtue. And conse- 
quently we should not have had those institutions 
which have been bequeathed to us. 

Not to insist on this, however, let it be remem- 
bered, that while the next subsequent great awak- 
enings in the old and new world were progressing, 
the political agitations in this country were taking 
place. And who can doubt that they were coincident 
in purpose as well as in time ? The first mentioned 
were designed, beyond question, to act upon the last 
mentioned, and both to coalesce in the elevation of 
man for the divine glory. And so while a popular 
government was to be planted, and the resources of 
the continent were making ready for development, 
constituting this the home of the nations, it was 
made sure that there should be special religious 
activities on the part of God's people. Thus were 
the moulding influences of Christianity operative in 
just that emergency, — the formative state of socie- 
ty — blending its sanctified forces with the vigor of 
the youthful republic. 

2. Missio7iary movements came from revivals. 
All those great benevolent enterprises which are the 
glory of this age originated thence. 

Confining our view to the fourth revival period, 
1790, 1842, how apparent is the fact stated. 

In 1784 at a Baptist Association held in Notting- 
ham, England, it was determined ^' that one hour in 
the first Monday evening of every month should be 
devoted to solemn and special intercession for 



WHAT WE OWE TO REVIVALS, g/ 

the Redeemer's Kingdom throughout the Earth/' 
In the spring of i/Qi, at a meeting of ministers held 
at CHpston, in Northamptonshire, Messrs. SutcHffand 
Fuller delivered discourses adapted to fan into a 
flame the latent sparks of missionary zeal. At the 
annual association held that autumn at Nottingham, 
William Carey preached his famous sermon '* Enlarge 
the place of thy tent, etc.,*' urging that we were to 
** Expect great things fro7n God^ and attempt great 
things for God,'' 

On the 2d day of October, 1792, the ministers met 
at Kettering, and after the public services of the 
day, retired for prayer. Then they solemnly pledged 
themselves to God and to each other to make a 
trial for introducing the gospel among the heathen, 
subscribing as a fund for that purpose £l'^,2s, 6d, 
Apian was adopted, and a society formed, designated 
" The Particular Baptist Society for Propagating the 
Gospel among the Heathen." The names of the 
twelve were John Ryland, Reynold Hogg, John 
Sutcliff, Andrew Fuller, Abraham Greenwood, Ed- 
ward Sharman, Joshua Burton, Samuel Pearce, 
Thomas Blundel, William Heighton, John Eayres, 
Joseph Timms. William Carey immediately offered 
himself as a missionary. Mr. John Thomas, who 
had already performed some Christian labor in Cal- 
cutta, while practicing there as a surgeon, and was 
then in England, joined him. They sailed from Eng- 
land June 13, 1793. John Fountain followed them 
in 1796; and in 1799 Messrs. Ward, Brundson, Grant, 
and Marshman, were added to the little band. 



88 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

Thus was laid on a solid basis the first of the 
modern evangelical societies for the conversion of 
the pagans. Kindred societies, for home and foreign 
work, and for a variety of specific objects, (as we 
have seen in the previous chapter) were established 
in England about this time. 

Still more visibly, if possible, were the great mis- 
sionary movements of our own country connected 
with the revival period of which we now speak. 

In the words of Dr. Heman Humphrey, as to 
this era, when it dawned, there were no Mission^ 
ary societies, foreign or domestic, no Bible socie- 
ties, no Tract societies, no Education societies, no 
onward movements in the churches of any sort for the 
conversion of the world. At home it was deep spir- 
itual apathy ; abroad, over all the heathen lands, 
the calm of the Dead Sea — death, death, nothing 
but death. 

All the first foreign missionaries. Hall, Newell, 
Mills, Judson, Nott, Rice, Bingham, King, Thrus- 
ton, and others who entered the field a little later, 
were converted and received their missionary bap- 
tism in revivals. The American Board of For- 
eign Missions was formed in 1810, at the urgency of 
the first band that went out from this country to 
India. But for their earnest solicitation to be sent 
forth with the glad tidings of the gospel upon their 
tongues, no such Board would have been formed ; 
certainly not at that time ; and if it had, it could not 
have done anything : there would have been no mis- 
sionaries to send if God had not poured out his 



WHAT WE- OWE TO REVIVALS. 



89 



Spirit, and raised them up and prepared them to 
endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. 
In these revivals the holy fire was kindled, and 
waked up and warmed the churches to an onward 
aggressive movement, such as had never been known 
in this country before. Other missionaries soon fol- 
lowed under the same Board. And about the same 
time, the American Baptist Foreign Mission Board 
was organized to sustain Judson and Rice who had 
changed their communion and commenced a mission 
in Burmah. 

From the same revival source, moreover, sprang 
home missions. It began to be felt that we have a 
wide and fast spreading population that must be cared 
for, and then domestic missionary societies were 
formed to meet the want. Nor was this enough. 
The churches having once waked up from their long 
slumbers, could not rest here. The destitute at 
home must have the word of God put into their 
hands, and it must be sent abroad with the mission- 
aries, and translated into the tongues wherein the 
heathen were born, that they might read the won- 
derful works of God and be turned from darkness to 
light, from the worship of dumb animals to the wor- 
ship of Him who made the world. Hence sprang 
the American Bible Society, and in succession its 
branches, and other kindred institutions. 

Nor yet again could the yearnings of Christian 
benevolence, once excited, rest without still further 
expansion. A Christian literature, in a cheap and 
attractive form, must be created and diffused. Small 



QO HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

religious tracts must be written, printed and scat- 
tered over the land. And to this end Tract and 
other Societies were organized. 

If we would see more minutely the exact rela- 
tion which revivals bore to these benevolent move- 
ments, we have but to consider such facts as these : 

In the spring of 1806 Samuel John Mills joined 
Williams College, Mass. Of him Dr. Griffin says he 
^' had been prepared by the revival of Torringford^ 
Litchfield county, in 1798-9.'* Through Mr. Mills, 
in great part, revival influences prevailed in the town 
and college, and among the converts was Gordon 
Hall. Says Dr. Griffin, '' Mills had devoted himself 
to the cause of missions from the commencement of 
his new existence, and by the influence of that revi- 
val he was enabled to diffuse his spirit through a 
choice circle who raised this college to the distinct- 
tion of being the birthplace of American missions. 
In the spring of 1808 they formed a secret society, 
to extend their influences to other colleges, and to 
distinguished individuals in different parts of the 
country. One of them first roused the missionary 
energies of Pliny Fisk, who afterwards died in Pales- 
tine. In the autumn of that year, in a beautiful 
meadow on the banks of the Hoosack, these young 
Elijahs prayed into existence the embryo of Ameri- 
can missions. In the fall of 1809, Mills and Richards 
and Robbins carried this society to Andover, where 
it roused the first missionary band that went out to 
India in 18 12, and where it is still exerting a mighty 
influence on the interests of the world. In that 



WHAT WE OWE TO REVIVALS, 



91 



band were Gordon Hall and Luther Rice, of this 
college, [and Adoniram Judson, converted at Ando- 
ver.J Richards soon followed and laid his bones in 
India. Mills and his coadjutors were the means of 
forming the American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions, the American Bible Society, the 
United Foreign Missionary Society, and the African 
School under the care of the Synod of New York 
and New Jersey; besides all the impetus given to 
domestic missions, to the Colonization Society, and 
to the general cause of benevolence in both hemi- 
spheres." Such were some of the fruits of the 
revivals of those times, regarded in the light of the 
benevolent enterprises to which they led. 

In this survey we have not alluded to missionary 
movements among the Indians, resulting from the 
revivals in the time of the elder Edwards ; nor to 
incipient organizations (such as the Massachusetts 
Missionary Society, formed in Boston in 1799, ^^d the 
Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts, formed 
in 1803, etc.,) which were among the first fruits of the 
powerful awakenings about the beginning of the 
present century. But enough has been said to show 
the connection between missions and revivals. 

It must be added, however, tha.t the funds for 
the prosecution of these enterprises of benevolence 
would never have been forthcoming except for revi- 
vals. It is when God's people are vivified by the 
special power of the Spirit, that their hearts and their 
hands are open in behalf of those sitting in the re* 
gion and shadow of death. 

4* 



92 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



3. An efficient ministry has come from revivals. 
We hardly dare lift the curtain to see what the min- 
istry was previous to some of the great historic revi- 
vals; as in the days of Wickhffe, Huss, and Luther; 
or when Whitfield began his career. The character 
of the English clergy of those times is but too well 
known. Many of them could not even read the 
Bible. Of the clergy, even as late as 178 1, Cowper 
could write without fear of contradiction : 

" Except a few with Eli's spirit blest, 
Hophni and Phineas may describe the rest.'* 

It is also well known that great numbers of the 
American Congregational clergy in the early part 
and about the middle of the eighteenth century, 
were not converted, nor even pretended to be. We 
are told that as many as twenty ministers were con- 
verted in and around Boston under Mr. Whitfield's 
preaching, upon his third visit to America. Indeed, 
some men of eminence, (like Mr. Stoddard at North- 
ampton) maintained that ^^ unconverted ministers 
have certain official duties which they may lawfully 
perform." Says Tracy (in his Great Awakening) 
'* a large majority in the Presbyterian Church, and 
many, if not most, in New England, held that the 
ministrations of unconverted men, if neither heretical 
in doctrine nor scandalous for immorality, were valid, 
and their labors useful. For years afterwards, this 
doctrine was publicly and furiously maintained.'' 

The prodigious excitement created by Mr. Ten- 
nent's famous Nottingham (N. J.) sermon, " On the 



WHAT WE OWE TO REVIVALS, 



93 



danger of an unconverted ministry," is another indi- 
cation of the times. 

In the '* improvement '* part of the sermon he 
cries out, " what a scrole and scene of mourning, 
lamentation, and woe is opened, because of the 
swarms of locusts, the crowds of Pharisees, that have 
as covetously as cruelly crept into the ministry in this 
adulterous generation ! who as nearly resemble the 
character given of the old Pharisees, in the doctrinal 
part of this discourse, as one crow's egg does another ! 
It is true, some of the modern Pharisees have learned 
to prate a little more orthodoxly about the new 
birth, than their predecessor Nicodemus, who are, in 
the meantime, as great strangers to the feeling ex- 
perience of it, as he. They are blind, who see not 
this to be the case of the body of the clergy of this 
generation.'' 

There was no doubt somewhat of exaggeration, a^ 
well as undue severity of expression, in this sermon ; 
but it is certain that plain words were called for ; and 
an unquestionable authority states that '' to no 
other human agency as much as to this sermon 
is it owing that Presbyterian ministers at the pres- 
ent day are generally pious/' Thus much as to the 
revivals of those times as related to a soundly con- 
verted ministry. 

But there is a higher ministerial qualification than 
bare conversion, namely: the possession of a large 
measure of the Holy Spirit. And how many a min- 
ister has had his whole character and style of preach- 
ing remodelled by precious revival experiences ! It 



94 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



has been remarked with truth that a minister can 
learn in a revival that which he can scarcely learn in 
any other circumstances. There he enjoys advan- 
tages which he can have nowhere else for becoming 
acquainted with the windings of the human heart ; 
for ascertaining the influence of different truths upon 
different states of feeling ; for learning how to detect 
false hopes and to ascertain and confirm good hopes ; 
and for getting his own soul deeply imbued with the 
true spirit of his work. Hence ministers, after hav- 
ing passed through a revival, have preached, and 
prayed, and done their whole work with far more 
earnestness and effect than before ; and they them- 
selves have not unfrequently acknowledged that what 
they had gained, during such a season, has been 
worth more to them than the study of years. 

It must be remembered, too, that revivals might- 
ily increase the number of ministers. It is when 
thousands of youth are gathered into the churches 
that our young men come forward, saying " Here 
am I, send me." What an exhibit that would be if 
we were able to give the names of all the ministers 
of the last hundred years who were converted in 
revivals ! We believe that nine-tenths of them were 
the children of revivals. Nor, if the repetition of such 
visitations were to cease, do we see any alternative 
except that the great work of the age must stand 
still for want of laborers, or be prosecuted by men 
lacking the most essential of all qualifications. 

4. Institutions of learjiing owe much to revivals. 
Many of them originated .directly in revivals. We 



WHAT WE OWE TO REVIVALS, qj 

have already seen that 24 universities sprang up 
within a century in the old world succeeding the 
labors of Wickliffe. And the founding of Princeton 
College in this country is but one case of many 
where the beginnings were in revivals. It may also 
be mentioned that the same revival was the parent 
of Dartmouth College. Among the Mohegans con- 
verted in 1 741, was Samson Occum, then seventeen 
years of age. In December, 1743, Mr. Wheelock, of 
Lebanon, received him as a pupil, and he pursued 
his studies in the family for several years. In 1748, 
Wheelock determined to commence a school for the 
education of Indian preachers, and a donation from 
Joshua Moor, a farmer in Mansfield, in 1754, gave it 
a permanent foundation. The influence of the 
revival on several Indian tribes helped to furnish 
him with pupils, and in 1762 he had more than 
twenty under his care. In 1766, Rev. Nathaniel 
Whitaker, and Occum, who had become a preacher 
of some distinction, went to England to solicit funds 
for the institution. Occum attracted unusual atten- 
tion, Whitfield aided them, and a large amount of 
funds was obtained. The school was afterwards 
removed to its present location, in N. H., and Dart- 
mouth College was added to it. And with tjie 
founding of the college there, a series of revivals 
commenced, extending through several years. 

But, viewed in any aspect, what had been the fate 
of colleges without revivals? Take such facts as 
these as to the absence of revivals. 

During the first seven years of the existence 



• HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

of Williams College — in which ninety-three graduated 
in six classes — there were but five professors of 
religion in the institution, exclusive of two who, 
seven months before the close of that period, were 
brought into the church by the revivals in Litchfield 
county. In three of those six classes there was not 
a single professor. From the Commencement in 
1798 till February, 1800, there was but 07ie professor 
of religion in the college. 

Dr. Green, President of Princeton College, says 
that when in 1782 he entered the institution, there 
w^ere but two professors of religion am.ong the stu- 
dents, and not more than five or six who scrupled 
to use profane language in common conversation. 
The open and avowed infidelity of Paine, and other 
writers of the same character, produced incalculable 
injury to religion and morals throughout our whole 
country; and its effect on young men who valued 
themselves for genius, and were fond of novel specu- 
lations, was the greatest of all. And he says: ** Dr. 
Smith, then President of the college, told me that 
one man w^ho sent his son^ stated explicitly in a let- 
ter that not a word was ever to be said to hi7n on the 
subject of religion!' 

-In some of the early years of Yale College there 
were not four in a year studying for the ministry. 
When Dr. Dwight came to the Presidency (in 1795) 
many of the leading students were tinctured with the 
French infidelity, and its bold champions. 

Alas for college hfe if it had been thus barren of 
religious influence ! 



WHAT WE OWE TO REVIVALS. 97 

But take such facts as the following. Speaking 
for Brown University, Providence, R. I., President 
Manning [also pastor of the Baptist Church there,] 
wrote thus: ^^ In the beginning of 1774 it pleased 
the Lord in a most remarkable manner to revive his 
work in the town of Providence, and more especially 
among the people of my charge. Such a time I 
never before saw. Our public assemblies by day and 
by night were crowded, and the auditors seemed to 
hear as for the life of their souls. It was frequently 
an hour before I could get from the pulpit to the 
door, on account of the numbers thronging to have 
an opportunity of stating the condition of their 
minds. And what added to my happiness, was, that 
the Lord visited the college as remarkably as the 
congregation. Frequently, when I went to the reci- 
tation room, I would find nearly all the students 
assembled, and joining in prayer and praise to God. 
Instead of my lectures on logic and philosophy, they 
would request me to speak to them of the things per- 
taining to the kingdom of God. In the space of six 
months I baptized more than a hundred persons." 

In 1802 a revival in Yale shook the whole college, 
and ^^ it seemed for the time that the whole mass of 
the students would press into the kingdom." And 
'* nearly all the converts entered the ministry." No 
less than four revivals occurred under Dr. Dwight's 
presidency, resulting in the conversion of two hun- 
dred and ten young men, who, in their turn, were the 
instruments of the salvation of thousands of souls. 
In 1832, President Humphrey, of Amherst College 
5 



98 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



writing as to revivals there up to his time says : '^ These 
times of refreshing have been of inestimable advan- 
tage to the college, by raising the standard of morals, 
and diffusing a strong religious influence through- 
out our whole youthful community. During the ten 
years that the institution has now existed-, there has 
been a decided average majority of professed Chris- 
tians in the four classes. In some years more than 
two-thirds have been professors. Two hundred and 
seventy have graduated — more than two hundred of 
whom are hopefully pious ; and about one-half of 
the number of students who have entered college 
without piety, since it was established^ have, as we 
trust, found the pearl of great price, before com- 
pleting their academical course.'' 

Says Dr. Tyler, in hjs " Prayer for Colleges and 
Seminaries \' '' In the space of ninety-six years, begin- 
ning with the great revival of 1 741, and ending in 
1837, there were twenty revivals in Yale College, in 
fourteen of which five hundred students were hope- 
fully converted ; and during the last twenty-five 
years of this same period, there were thirteen spe- 
cial revivals, or one every two years, besides several 
other seasons of more than usual religious interest.'' 

Middlebury College has been blessed in forty 
years with ten revivals, — some of them of great 
power. During the first twenty-five years of its his- 
tory, every class but one was permitted to share in a 
religious awakening, and some classes received three 
or four such visits of mercy while in college. No 
class has ever yet left Amherst College without wit- 



WHAT WE OWE TO REVIVALS. 



99 



nessing a powerful revival : and of the converts more 
than one hundred have been ministers, fifteen have 
been missionaries, twenty-eight officers of colleges 
and theological seminaries ; and several were young 
men of genius and great promise, who died before 
entering upon a profession. 

Nor must we forget to magnify the grace of God 
in the effusions of his Spirit upon our academies, 
high-schools, and other kindred educational semina- 
ries, both male and female, where there have been 
hundreds upon hundreds of these revivals, making 
these schools emphatically nurseries of the churches. 

In view of all this, who can calculate the influ- 
ence of revivals upon our seats of learning? And 
from what source could faithful ministers have been 
obtained if these institutions had not thus been 
blessed? 

5. Once more: Strong churches have come from 
revivals. The numerical aspect is one view of the 
case. It is of the very nature of revivals that multi- 
tudes flock into the kingdom. And what an acces- 
sion to the praying and working force of the churches 
in the estimated 50,000 converts in this country du- 
ring the awakening of 1730- 1745 ; and the 40,000 to 
50,000 anmtally for many years between 1790 and 
1840; and the 400,000 additions in the revivahof 
1857-8. 1 And what numbers of new churches du- 
ring those seasons were organized. 

It must also be taken into account, that in those 
earhcr revivals great numbers of church-members 
were converted, and not put down among reported 



100 HANDBOOK OF' REVIVALS. 

conversions. Says Tracy of the work at the time of 
Edwards, *' the practice of admitting to the commu- 
nion all persons neither heretical nor scandalous, w^as 
general in the Presbyterian church, and prevailed 
extensively among the Congregational churches. In 
consequence, a large proportion of the communicants 
in both were unconverted persons. Multitudes of 
these were converted. In some cases the revival 
seems to have been almost wholly within the church, 
and to have resulted in the conversion of nearly all 
the members." A large addition ought to be made, 
on this score, to the estimated number of conver- 
sions. 

And of the work fifty years later an equally good 
authority says : *^ In New England, the old so- 
called half way covenant system, by which many 
claimed for themselves and their children a visible 
relation to the church, while living in w^orldliness and 
neglecting the Lord's table, was still widely prevalent, 
and though a large number of churches continued 
evangelical and spiritual, the great body had sunk 
into apathy and formality. As an illustration of the 
state of many churches, we have in mind one, now 
evangelical, in which, when a godly man was called 
to it, no prayer-meeting had been held for thirty 
years; family worship was maintained by very few; 
and the termxS of admission to the church were little 
more than an assent to the truth of the Christian 
religion, and a wish to join." 

Here was, then, a twofold gain by the revivals, — 
additions from within^ as well as from without. And 



WHAT WE OWE TO REVIVALS. loi 

this r^-conversion of the churches was far more im- 
portant than mere numerical accessions. Uncon- 
verted members are a dead weight, which no church 
can afford to carry : and the bodies were thus re- 
lieved from these encumbrances. 

Again, a converted church membership was after 
this- insisted upon ; and had the opposite practice 
been continued, and become universal, it would have 
been more than a paralysis. The churches might 
have retained their names, but as true churches of 
Christ they would not have survived. 

Another, and a most important advantage from 
the revivals was, that the preaching became more 
spiritual and discriminating, and the doctrines more 
evangelical. It was felt that every man is a '' child 
of wrath" unless ^^ born of the Spirit.'' Each indi- 
vidual saw that his most endeared friend, wife or 
husband, son or daughter, neighbor or acquaintance, 
was on the road to death unless created anew in 
Christ Jesus. Hence the latent Christian energies 
were called out. 

Another result was the abolition of the union of 
church and state. The government of the founders 
of New England was a Theocracy, and it worked 
disastrously. In the words of the biographer of 
John Cotton, " it served both to embroil the state, 
and to secularize the church ; and laid a founda- 
tion for that lamentable apostasy, in which not a 
few of the Pilgrim churches are sunk." 

And yet the theory was clung to by very many. 
They shrunk from the application of the principle 



102 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

of soul-liberty, now so common. Even to such men 
as Timothy Dwight and Lyman Beecher, it seemed 
dangerous to the interests of piety to disunite the 
churches from civil jurisdiction and support ; — the 
latter, as he said, being at first so unreconciled to it 
that he grieved and troubled himself over it day and 
night. Nor was it until a late day that the last 
link connecting church and state was broken by 
abolishing the assessments of church-rates. This 
was effected not alone by the great increase of 
the Baptists, who from the first heartily advocated 
it, but also by the increase of the spiritual element in 
all the religious bodies, which naturally found 
expression in this direction. 

From these several points of observation, one can- 
not fail to be impressed with the conviction of an 
augmented church-power from revivals. Thence 
have come the vast majority of our Sunday school 
teachers and Christian workers, our most laborious 
and successful ministers and missionaries, and the 
most enterprising and influential churches. 

In 1829 a letter was addressed to the Congrega- 
tional-ministers of Connecticut, proposing among oth- 
er inquiries, the following: — *' i. What was the whole 
number of professors of religion in your church at 
the commencement of the year 1820? 2. What 
number were added to your church by profession 
during the years 1820,-1-2-3-4? 3. Of those who 
are now members of your church, what proportion 
may be considered as the fruit of a revival, and what 
is their comparative standing for piety and active 



WHAT WE OWE TO REVIVALS. 



103 



benevolent enterprise?'' And it appeared that a 
very large proportion of all who were members of 
the Congregational churches in that State, became 
such in consequence of revivals ; that the relative 
proportion of such as revivals had been multiplying, 
had been continually increasing ; that the most 
active and devoted Christians were among those who 
came into the church as fruits of revivals ; that those 
churches in which revivals had been most frequent 
and powerful were the most numerous and flourish- 
ing, and that in all the churches thus visited with 
divine influence, there had been a great increase of 
Christian enterprise, and benevolent action. 

Says Dr. Joel Hawes, [in 1832,] '' It is now my 
sober judgment, that if there is among the people of 
my charge any cordial belief and love of the distin- 
guishing doctrines of the gospel ; any serious practi- 
cal regard to the duties of the Christian life ; any 
self-denial and bearing of the cross and following 
Christ according to his commands ; any active be- 
nevolence and engagedness in doing good ; in short, 
any pious efficient concern for the glory of God and 
the salvation of sinners, either at home or abroad, 
in Christian or in heathen lands, — all this is to be 
traced, in no small part, to the influence of revivals of 
religion ; and it is to be found, in an eminent degree, 
among those who have been added to the church 
as fruits of revivals." 

The writer has been at considerable pains to 
verify this judgment of Dr. Hawes as a general rule, 
by examining into the history of some of the strong 



104 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



churches of to-day. And the result is deeply interest- 
ing and instructive. 

Beginning immediately under his personal obser- 
vation, he finds that the First Presbyterian Church 
here, [Newark, N. J.,] — one of the oldest and 
strongest in the denomination, and from which have 
originated a goodly number of other bodies, — is em- 
phatically the offspring of revivals. Thus we read 
in a letter from Dr. Griffin, that in 1806 '^we were 
encouraged with symptoms of a revival in this vil- 
lage ;'' and that in 1807 '* secret anxieties were prey- 
ing upon a number of persons, and the desire for a 
revival was spreading rapidly through the church," 
and ''the agonies of parents vv^ere such as to drive 
sleep from their eyes." Soon he tells of "' the tri- 
umphs of the Prince of peace,'' and of ^' two hundred 
and thirty to two hundred and fifty^'' hopeful con- 
versions. And Dr. Stearns, (the present pastor,) in 
his history of this body, narrates other mighty works 
of grace at various intervals. What would that 
congregation (and the denomination in Newark) 
have been to-day but for those revivals? Almost all 
the strong men in these societies were the subjects 
of these revivals, twenty, thirty, forty, and some of 
them sixty years ago. 

. The history of the First Baptist church is much 
to the same effect. To the personal knowledge of 
the writer the main strength of this body is the di- 
rect fruit of revivals. Thus the 23 persons received 
in a gentle refreshing in 1810; the 28 in 1818; the 
14 in 1833 ; the 23 in 1836; the 48 in 1840; the 30 in 



WHAT WE OWE TO REVIVALS, 



105 



1847 ^^^ 1850; 3.nd the one thousand souls added 
by profession since the last mentioned date (230 in 
one revival) — these additions have been the very* 
life-blood of the church. And other churches of 
this denomination, as well as of the Methodist, 
Congregational, and Reformed churches^ have had a 
similar experience. 

Passing to Elizabeth, (the same State,) we find 
two old and very strong Presbyterian congregations. 
Trace their history back, and we meet such facts as 
these:— In 1772, 1774, 1784, 1803, 1812, 1817, 1819, 
and 1825 there' were revivals, when large numbers were 
added. "' The young, and many of them children," 
added from 18 17 to 1826, have been, chiefly, the 
strength of this denomination for many years. What 
a different aspect would those bodies wear to-day 
had there not been these great ingatherings. 

Passing on to New Brunswick (same State) we 
find there substantial Christian bodies, — Reformed, 
Baptist, Presbyterian ; and it is ascertained that 
revivals have chiefly made them what they are. 

We visit Hartford, and New Haven, Conn.; and 
turning to the narratives of wonderful works of grace 
in that State, we find that two hundred were added 
to the Congregational body in the former place in 
1821: and, says the pastor in 1832, [Dr. Hawes,] 
*' During the time I have been connected with the 
church, about ^7^^ hundred and fifty have been added 
to its communion, not less than four fifths of whom 
arc to be regarded as the fruits of revivals.'' 

In Now Haven 300 were added to the Congrcga- 
5* 



Io6 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

tionalist church in 1820; and of 31 congregations in 
the county of New Haven, at least twenty-five were 
visited, during the winter and spring, with the special 
presence of the Lord ; and it was estimated that with- 
in these Hmits between fifteen himdred and two thou- 
sand souls were called out of nature's darkness into 
light. Who fails to see that Congregationalism on 
those fields owes its strength to-day to those revi- 
vals ? 

In Boston and Providence, facts of the same 
nature might be abundantly gathered. Also in Pitts- 
field, Troy, Albany, and other cities. 

Coming to New York, it is well known that the 
*' old Brick Church'' has been for long years a tower 
of strength there. And now hear Dr. Spring, for 
threescore years its pastor, tell how he felt in 18 14 
when it seemed that he ^^ must abandon' his post 
through discouragement ; until the time he had his 
first revival ; and the ingathering, ^^ though not great, 
was the finest of the wheat." And how in 181 5, and 
five special seasons after that up to 1834, God gra- 
ciously revived them, — the converts added by profes- 
sion being thirty, forty, or seventy, ''filling the broad 
aisle of the church, — a lovely spectacle to God, 
angels and men.'' What were that body to-day, 
and what had been its influence, but for such 
revivals ? 

Drs. Dewitt and Mildoller tell us how the roots 
of the power of the Reformed churches struck deep 
in New York in such refreshings. And Dr. Archibald 
Maclay narrates how the Baptists there had those 



WHAT WE OWE TO REVIVALS. iq/ 

growths which made them strong in. after years, in 
blessed revival seasons. 

Dr. Mcllvaine testifies (in 1832, and also in 
1858,) to blessed works of grace *^ widely and 
wonderfully vouchsafed," which gave great strength 
to the Episcopal body. It would be easy to mention 
the names of some of the most influential Church- 
men who were converted in a revival at West Point, 
when Dr. Mcllvaine was chaplain there. 

This must suffice. And it but faintly shows what 
we owe to revivals. Revivals ! what blessings have 
they brought to famihes, to neighborhoods, and com- 
munities ! What myriads of souls have they intro- 
duced into glory ! What impulses have they given 
to Christian exertion, in home and foreign work! 
They have been the life of all the aggressive move- ' 
ments, evangelistic achievements, victories, conquests 
of the churches. They have made encroachments 
on the domains of darkness, turning the slaves of 
sin into soldiers of Jesus, and hastening, the time 
of the millennium. They have made good citizens, 
g5od neighbors, faithful friends, useful laborers, wise 
parents, and dutiful children. 

Blot out what God has done by revivals, and our 
sky would be shrouded in gloom ; our sanctuaries 
would be vacant : our missionary agencies things 
unknown, and languor and death would be about us 
on every side. 

'' O Lord, Revive Thy Work ! " 



CHAPTER IV. 

DIVINE ECONOMY OF REVIVALS. 

A RE revivals a part of God's plan ? Are they 
ordained as one of the methods of the world's 
conversion ? Do they enter into the economy of 
redemption ? 

For several reasons we believe this to be the 
case. 

And first of all, because from the beginning God 
has wrought prominently through revivals,. As we 
have seen in a previous chapter, the kingdom of 
Christ has thus far advanced chiefly by special sea- 
sons of gracious and rapid accomplishment of the 
work of conversion. And can any reason be found 
why God should work in that way in primeval and 
not in subsequent times? We question if the 
most ingenious opponent of these seasons, or if any 
Christian doubter, can invent any tolerably plausible 
reason for this, — that God should work thus then, 
and n©t work thus now. 

Again : many scriptural utterances assume the 
existence of revivals^ and anticipate them. We refer 
to such as these : ^^ Drop down ye heavens from 
above, and let the skies pour down righteousness." 
" I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and 



DIVINE ECONOMY OF REVIVALS, 



109 



floods upon the dry ground : I will pour my Spirit 
upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: 
and they shall spring up as among the grass, as wil- 
lows by the water-courses. One shall say, I am the 
Lord's ; and another shall call himself by the name 
of Jacob ; and another shall subscribe with his hand 
unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of 
Israel." This prophecy is an exquisite representation 
of a revival, wherein newly converted souls are 
openly professing loyalty to their King. And these 
are but a few scriptures which encourage the expec- 
tation of revivals. 

God's providences are adapted to move people in 
masses. Thus, often one member of a family falling 
in death is the means of the conversion of a house- 
hold. So when pestilence spreads among a people, 
and thousands die ; or famine is abroad on the earth, 
there is an appeal made to co7nmunities ; and the 
thoughts of men, if any suitable impression wxre 
made, would be directed to God and to a better 
world. The times and seasons also preach to com- 
munitieSy as well as to men singly. There is neither 
a judgment of the Almighty, nor a blessing that 
comes from our great Father's hand, that is not 
fitted to impress communities with the importance of 
religion, and to lead alienated, social man, back to 
God. Thus threatening ruin roused Nineveh to re- 
pentance ; and thus God visits the earth alike with 
judgment and mercy, to rouse the attention of whole 
communities, and direct their thoughts to eternity 
and to heaven. 



1 1 o HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

Moreover, the social character of man must be 
taken into account. The world is not made up of 
independent individuals, but is bound together in 
tribes, communities, families. There is a brother- 
hood of feeling and interest. If, then, religion is to 
exist in the world, we should expect to see it, at 
times, exerting a more wide-spread and potent in- 
fluence over men*s .minds than at other times, and 
large masses of society moved as by a common 
influence. We think it would be rational beforehand 
to look for just such spiritual phenomena as every 
revival presents. We should expect that one mind, 
becoming strongly interested in the subject of salva- 
tion, would be the occasion of another mind being 
aroused to attend to the subject ; and that this would 
lead to the same result in the case of another; and 
thus that the interest on this momentous subject, 
which perhaps began with an individual, would be, 
or easily might be extended through a large com- 
munity, until there should be but one paramount 
and absorbing object of pursuit throughout the 
whole body. And the denser the population in that 
community, and the more numerous the points of 
mutual contact among the members of that com- 
munity, the more general and powerful (should we 
expect) the revival would become. It would be 
strange if mankind, being placed together in organ- 
ized society, and possessing such sameness of sus- 
ceptibilities of being acted upon one by the other, 
should be serious and anxious about their salvation 
only one at a time, and each separately. 



DIVINE ECO NO M V OF RE VIVALS, 1 1 1 

Again, how are God^s purposes of grace to be ful- 
filled without this extensive moving of the masses? 
We do not see that the world can otherwise be con- 
verted. In the ordinary way of gaining converts to 
the Redeemer, without any such excitement of the 
public attention to the subject of religion as consti- 
tutes a revival, it would seem that the race could not 
be recovered from its ruined condition. The occur- 
ring of here and there a single solitary instance of 
conversion, will never bring about the conversion of 
the world. The common mass of the popula- 
tion, in any and every part of the world, must be 
moved. Thus, and thus only, can we reasonably ex- 
pect that the inhabitants of this globe will be brought 
to give up their sins and lying vanities, and turn to 
the living God. 

Again : by revivals the atheistic spirit is rebuked. 
Look at Christians. How apt are they to think that 
they can get along without God, even in the world's 
conversion. But leanness follows this self-conse- 
quence. And the churches finally come to see and 
feel that souls are not being sayed ; and they mourn 
over it, and in distress confess their pride and reli- 
ance on human agencies: upon which the Lord 
graciously appears to save. Thus are. his creatures 
taught their dependence. When they are thrown 
upon the efficiency of their own efforts, they very 
soon find that their best strength and proudest 
doings avail nothing at all. In this way he glori- 
fies his own great name. It is felt, and most 
heartily acknowledged, that the power is God's. 



112 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS, 

Thus a discourse which a short time ago appa- 
rently accomplished no good, now goes with life and 
salvation to numerous hearts. Once no truth, no 
effort took effect. Now every word and work, in 
Christ's name, is charged with a benignly subduing 
ejfificacy. These very alternations produce more 
profoundly the conviction, and bring out more 
fully the declaration — it is the work of God, — and 
more loudly the ascription — '' to him be all the 
Glory.^^ 

Then look at Christless men. The best answer 
to their sneer, " Where is thy God?'' is a glorious 
revival. The Most High takes this matter in hand. 
He comes in his great power. Seriousness settles on 
a community. Anxious inquiry and earnest prayer 
spread among the people with the rapidity of an 
electric shock. Every eye is open, every ear atten- 
tive, every conscience awake, every heart alive to the 
engrossing interest. Dissipation ceases ; amuse- 
ment is forgotten ; the drinking saloons are less 
frequented ; and where the wicked still congregate, 
perhaps to make sport of these sacred things, they 
yet see the handwriting on the wall, and their knees 
smite together like Belshazzar's ; and perhaps next 
day they are found penitent and believing. The very 
atmosphere of the community seems charged with 
Divinity. Eternity is near. The world for the time 
is nothing. The soul is all. The invisible is seen. 
Spiritual things, before shadowy and distant, are real, 
and near, and urgent. It is as if the boundaries of 
earth and heaven were broken, and the veil of flesh 



DIVINE ECONOMY OF RE VIVALS. 1 1 3 

removed, — as if earth and seas had fled, and men 
were already standing before the throne of God. 

These things are more potent than a thousand 
arguments to prove the divine existence. There is 
a God ! There is no one but knows it, and feels it ; 
and the whole ground of popular doubt is shaken, 
if not removed. 

Thus does God by revivals rebuke atheism and 
infidelity. Scenes like these, scenes, we believe, yet 
to come with great and still greater power, are to be 
God's main argument upon an infidel age, — evergrow- 
ing more infidel and arrogant from the delay of his 
power ; — a mighty argument, an arresting, penetrat- 
ing force, a fiery logic, writing in the inmost soul, 
the demonstration that a God and a gospel, and a 
heaven and a hell, are tremendous realities. 

Particularly, is Christ honored by revivals. Says 
Rev. Wm. Reid, ^' the quiet conversion of one sinner 
after another, under the ordinary ministry of the gos- 
pel, must always be regarded with feelings of satisfac- 
tion and gratitude by the ministers and disciples of 
Christ ; but a periodical manifestation of the simulta- 
neous conversion of thousands is also to be desired, 
because of its adaptation to afford a visible and 
impressive demonstration that God has made that 
same Jesus who was rejected and crucified, both 
Lord and Christ ; and that, in virtue of his divine 
Mcdiatorship, he has assumed the royal sceptre of 
universal supremacy, and '' must reign till all his 
enemies be made his footstool." It is therefore 
reasonable to expect that, from time to time, lie 



114 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



will repeat that which on the day of Pentecost 
formed the conclusive and crowning evidence of his 
Messiahship and Sovereignty ; and, by so doing, 
startle the slumbering souls of careless worldlings, 
gain the attentive ear of the unconverted, and, in a 
remarkable way, break in upon those brilliant dreams 
of earthly glory, grandeur, wealth, power, and happi- 
ness, which the rebellious and God-forgetting multi- 
tude so fondly cherish. Such an outpouring of the 
Holy Spirit, forms at once a demonstrative proof of 
the completeness and acceptance of his once offer- 
ing of himself as a sacrifice for sin, arid a prophetic 
^'earnest'* of the certainty that he ^^ shall appear 
the second time without sin unto salvation/' to 
judge the world in righteousness." 

So is the Spirit honored by revivals. One way 
this is done is by making effective in conversion 
the weakest instrumentalities. Said one as to the 
great revival in Dundee^ Scotland : "' The wonder- 
ful thing is, not only that people come — that la- 
borers from a distance come pight after night, 
but that the simplest statement of the truth in the 
simplest language seems to fall with power, and be 
listened to with the deepest interest.'' And minis- 
ters have often observed the same thing in revivals. 

During the revival in Boston in 1842, it was 
often remarked how independent of ordinary agencies 
the Holy Spirit operated. A man in middle life, a 
Sabbath-breaker and a lover of pleasure, was awak- 
ened by shooting a pigeon on the wing. " There," 
said he to himself, '' how quick that creature went 



DIVINE ECONOMY OF RE VIVALS, 1 1 5 

out of existence! And I may go as suddenly and 
unexpectedly, and where would then my spirit be ? '* 

One man was converted by observing that his 
dog after being fed seemed grateful. The thought 
came in his mind, ^^ I am not so good as my dog: 
he is grateful to me for kindness, but God has al- 
ways fed, clothed and taken care of me, and I have 
never been grateful at all.'* This discovered to him 
his heart, and brought him to repentance. 

Thus by the use of insignificant means does the 
Holy Spirit manifest his being and power. 

So does he do it by the quickness and the ex- 
tent of the work. What weak men fail to do in 
years, the Spirit does instantly ; and he does it on 
so grand a scale as to widely command attention. It 
was the greatness of the day, the prodigies of mani- 
festation and power on the Pentecost, that brought 
the surrounding multitudes to a stand, rugged, re- 
sisting, defiant, as they were ; and the Holy Ghost, 
through the truth, brought them down. The same 
holds all along in the history of the church. Some 
of the greatest prodigies of conviction and subjuga- 
tion, the greater part of them, — the all but miraculous 
making over of opposers and haters, — have occurred 
in connection with special revival seasons. 

These are some of the reasons why we may be- 
lieve that revivals are a part of the divine economy. 
Dr. BushncU'^' has very ably presented several points 

* In Quarterly Christian Spectator for 1S3S. 



Il6 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

which we summarize in the few following pages, leav- 
ing him, in the main, to speak in his own felicitous 
manner. Remarking upon an objection above referred 
to,— the uneven character of the divine influence, he 
says it is instructing to advert to the various and 
periodical changes of temperament which affect men 
in otJier matters than religion. Sometimes one sub- 
ject has a pecuHar interest to the mind, sometimes 
another. Sometimes the feelings chime with music, 
which at others is not agreeable. Society of a 
given tone is shunned to-day, though eagerly sought 
yesterday. These fluctuations are epidemical, too, 
extending to whole communities, and infecting them 
with an ephemeral interest in various subjects, which 
afterwards they wonder at themselves, and can no 
way recall. No public speaker of observation ever 
failed to be convinced, that man is a being, mentally, 
of moods and phases, which it were as vain to 
attempt the control of, as to push aside the stars. 

These fluctuations, or mental tides, are due, per- 
haps, to physical changes, and perhaps not. They 
roll round the earth like invisible waves, and the 
chemist and physician tax their skill in vain to find 
the subtle, powers that sway us. We only know that 
God is present in those fluctuations, whatever their 
real nature, — and that they are all inhabited by the 
divine power. Is it incredible, then, that this same 
divine power should produce periodical influences in 
the matters of religion^ — times of peculiar, various, 
and periodical interest? For ourselves we are 
obliged to confess that we strongly suspect that sort 



DIVINE ECONOMY OF REVIVALS, 



117 



of religion which boasts of no excitements, no tem- 
porary and changing states ; for we observe, that it 
is only toward nothing, or about nothing, that we 
have always the same feeling. 

Need we say, again, that progress, which is the 
law of all God's works and agencies, necessarily in- 
volves variety and change. Spring, for example, is 
the first stage of a progress. The newness thereof, 
the first beginnings of growth, must wax old and 
change their habit. So it is morally impossible, that 
the first feelings of religious interest in the breast 
should remain. There is a degree of excitation in 
the strangeness of new feelings, and so likewise in 
the early scenes of a revival of religion, which belongs 
to their novelty, and which is by no means inconsid- 
erable or improper. Such is human nature that it 
could not be otherwise. 

In fact, there is no reason to doubt that God. in 
framing the plan or system of his spiritual agencies, 
ordained fluctuations and changing types of spiritual 
exercise, that he might take advantage, at intervals 
of novelty, in arresting and swaying the minds of 
men. 

These are the spring-times of his truth, otherwise 
in danger of uniform stalencss. Thus he rouses the 
spiritual lethargy of men and communities, and 
sways their will to himself by aid of scenes and man- 
ifestations, not ordinary or familiar. Nor is it any- 
thing derogatory to tlic divine agency in the case 
that the spiritual spring cannot remain perpetual ; 
for there is a progress in God's works, and he goes 



Il8 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

on through change and multiform culture to ripen 
his ends. Doubtless, too, there may be a degree of 
sound feeling, apart from all novelty in a revival of 
religion, which human nature is incompetent perma- 
nently to sustain ; just as one may have a degree of 
intellectual excitement and intensity of operation, 
which he cannot sustain, but which is nevertheless 
a sound and healthy activity. In writing a sermon, 
for example, every minister draws on a fund of ex- 
citability which he knows cannot be kept up beyond 
a certain bound, and this without any derogation 
from his proper sanity. 

Again : God has a given purpose to execute in 
those who have entered on the religious life, viz., to 
produce character in them. To this end he dwells 
in them, and this is the object of this spiritual cul- 
ture, and here he meets,, at the very beginning, this 
grand truth, that varieties of experience and exer- 
cise are necessary to the religious character. How 
then shall he adjust the scale of his action, if not to 
produce all such varieties as are necessary for his 
object ? We have just remarked on the changes of 
temperament in men and communities, by which 
now one now another theme is brought to find a 
responsive note of interest. What is the end of 
this? Obviously it is, that we may be protected in 
all the many colored varieties of feehng, and led 
over a wide empire of experience. Were it not for 
this, — or if men were to live on, from childhood to 
the grave, in the same mood of feeling, and holding 
fast to the same unvarying topic of interest, they 



DIVINE ECONOMY OF REVIVALS, 



119 



would ei*ow to be little more than animals of one 
thought. To prevent which, and ripen what we 
call natural character to extension and maturity, 
God is ever leading us round and round invisibly, 
by new successions of providence and new affinities 
of feeling. 

Precisely the same necessity requires that reli- 
gious character be trained up under varieties of expe- 
rience, and shaped on all sides by manifold workings 
of the spirit. Now excitements must be applied ; now 
checks to inspire caution or invigorate dependence. 
Now the intellect must be fed by a season of study 
and reflection ; now the affections freshened by a sea- 
son of social and glowing ardor. By one means bad 
habits are to be broken up, by another good habits 
consolidated. Love, it is true, must reign in the 
heart through all such varieties ; but the principle 
of supreme love is one that can subsist in a thousand 
different connections of interest and temperaments 
of feeling. At one time it demands for its music a 
chorus of swelling voices, to bear aloft its exulting 
testimony of praise; at another, it may chime rather 
with the soft and melancholy wail just dying on its 
ear. 

And so, in like manner, it needs a diversity of 
times, exercises, duties, and pleasures. It needs, and 
for that reason it has, not only revivals and times of 
tranquillity, but every sort of revival, every sort of 
tranquillity. Sometimes we are revived individually, 
sometimes as churches, sometimes as a whole people ; 
and \vc have all degrees of excitation, all manner of 



1 20 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

incidents. Our more tranquil periods are sometimes 
specially occupied, or ought to be, in the correction 
of evil habits ; or we are particularly interested in the 
study of religious doctrines necessary to the vigor of 
our growth and usefulness; or we are interested to 
acquire useful knowledge of a more general nature, in 
order to our public influence, and the efficient dis- 
charge of our offices. In revivals we generally prefer 
the more social spheres of religious exercise ; after- 
wards the more private and solitary experiences may 
be cultivated. Such is the various travail which God 
has given to the sons of men to be exercised there- 
with. 

Besides : through these changes the churches 
make a deeper impression on the minds of men. 
God is manifested in nature by the wheeling spheres, 
light, shade, tranquillity, storm, — all the beauties and 
terrors of time. So the Spirit will reveal his divine 
presence through the churches by times of holy ex- 
citement, times of reflection, times of solitary com- 
munion, and times of patient hope. A church stand- 
ing always in the same exact posture and mould of 
aspect, would be only a pillar of salt in the eyes of 
men ; it would attract no attention, reveal no inhabi- 
tation of God's power. But suppose that now, in a 
period of no social excitement, it is seen to be grow- 
ing in attachment to the Bible and the house of God, 
storing itself with divine or useful knowledge, mani- 
festing a heavenly-minded habit in the midst of a 
general rage for gain, devising plans of charity to the 
poor and afflicted, reforming offensive habits, chas- 



DIVnVE ECONOMY OF REVIVALS. 



121 



tening bosom sins, — suppose, in short, that principles 
adopted in a former revival are seen to hold fast as 
principles, to prove their reality and unfold their 
beauty, when there is no longer any excitement to 
sustain them, — here the worth and reality of religious 
principles are established. And now let the Spirit 
move this solid enginery once more into glowing ac- 
tivity, let the church thus strengthened, be lifted 
into spiritual courage and exaltation, and its every 
look and act will seem to be inhabited by divine 
power, — it will be as the chariot of God, and before 
it the enemies will tremble. 

There is one more advantage in periodical or 
temporary dispensations ; in the very fact that they 
are temporary. We often see that the certainty felt 
by those who are at any time enlightened and drawn 
by the Spirit that they will not long be dealt with 
as now, — that by delay they may miss the grace 
of God and lose the favored moment, — is the strong- 
est and most urgent of all motives to immediate 
repentance. This, in fact, is absolutely requisite to 
the stress and cogency of all means and agencies. 
Such is the procrastinating spirit of men ; so fast 
bound are they in the love of sin, that however 
deeply they may feel their own guilt and lost estate, 
nothing but the fact that God is now giving them 
an opportunity and aid which are temporary, would 
ever foreclose them from delay. We need look no 
farther to see the folly of supposing that God must 
not act periodically or variously, if he act at all, in 
6 



122 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. . 

renewing men. Why act uniformly when it would 
defeat all the ends of action ? 

We should be sorry if in what has been advanced 
a shadow of countenance has been given to the im- 
pression that the Christian is allowed, at some times, 
to be less rehgious than at others. He is under 
God's authority and bound by his law at all times. 
He must answer to God for each moment and 
thought of his life. His covenant oath consecrates 
all his life to God, and stipulates for no intermission 
of service. At no time can he shrink from religious 
obligation, without dishonor to his good faith, to- 
gether with a loss of character and of God's favor. 
Furthermore still, it is his duty and privilege ever to 
be filled with the Spirit. The believer is one chosen 
for his indwelhng. He is consecrated to be the divine 
temple, and God will never leave his temple, except 
he is driven away by profanation — grieved away. 
*' I have somewhat against thee,'' said the Saviour, 
** because thou hast left thy first love." He did not 
require, of course, that the novelty and first excite- 
ment of feehng should last; but that love, the real 
principle of love, should lose ground in them was 
criminal. 

If it be asked how can this be harmonized with 
the alternations of revivals ? the answer is this : — God 
favors and appoints different moods or kinds of 
religious interest, but not backslidings, or declensions 
of religious principle. There are diversities of gifts, 
but the same Spirit. There are diversities of opera- 
tion, but it is the same God who worketh all and 



DIVINE ECONOMY OF REVIVALS. 



123 



in all. There is a common mistake in supposing 
that the Spirit of God is present in times only of 
religious exaltation ; or if it be true, that such need 
be the case. It is conceivable that he may be doing 
as glorious a work in the soul when there is but a 
very gentle, or almost no excitement of feeling. 
He may now be leading the mind after instruction, 
teaching the believer to collect himself and establish 
a regimen over his lawless will and passions, search- 
ing the motives, inducing a habit of reflection, 
teaching how to carry principles without excitement, 
drawing more into communion perhaps with God, 
and less for the time with men ; and while he con- 
ducts the disciple through these rounds of heavenly 
discipline, we are by no means to think that he is, 
of course, less religious, or has less of supreme love 
to God than he had in the more fervid season of 
revival. A soldier is as much a soldier when he 
encamps as when he fights, when he stands with his 
loins girt about, and his feet shod with the prepara- 
tion of the gospel as when he quenches the fiery 
darts. The Christian warfare is not all battle. 
There are times in it for polishing the armor, forming 
the tactics, and feeding the vigor of the host. 

Hence we conclude th^t there is in what we call 
revivals of religion something of a divinely appointed 
periodical nature. But as far as they are what the 
name imports, revivals of religion, that is, of the 
principle of love and obedience, they are linked with 
dishonor ; for they arc made necessary by the 
instability and bad faith of Christ^s disciples. But 



124 



HA hW BOOK OF REVIVALS. 



here it must be noted, that the dishonor does not 
belong to the revival, but to the decay of principles 
in the disciple which need reviving. There ought 
to be no declension of real principle ; but if there is, 
no dishonor attaches to God in recovering his disciple 
from it, but the more illustrious honor is his due. 
Thus it is very often true, when a revival seems to 
have an extreme character, that the fact is due, not 
to the real state produced, but to the previous fall, 
the dearth and desolation with which it is contrasted. 
And generally, if the ridicule thrown upon a revival 
were thrown upon the worldliness, the dishonorable 
looseness of life and principle w^hich preceded, it 
would not be misplaced. 

We- see then that revivals are in no degree desul- 
tory, except as they partake of human errors and 
infirmities. They lie embedded in that great system 
of universal being and event W'hich the divine omni- 
presence fills, actuates and warms. As the gospel is 
enlarged in the world, and the Christian mind enlight- 
ened, they will gradually lose their extremes and 
dishonorable incidents, and will constitute an ebb 
and flow measured only by the pulses of the Spirit. 
The church wall then make a glowing, various and 
happy impression. Her armor, though modified, will 
always shine, and will have a celestial temper in it. 
Changing her front, she will yet always present a 
host clad in the full panoply of God. 

'' O Lord, Revive Thy Work ! " 



CHAPTER V. 

OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS. 

/^EJECTIONS to revivals are no new thing, even 
^-"^ from the friends of godHness. The primitive 
awakenings encountered them ; and President Ed- 
wards complained of those in his day ready to say, 
^' There is but little sober, solid religion in this wprk ; 
it is little else but flash and noise." And he asks, 
** Is it not a shame to New England that such a work 
should be much doubted of here?'' adding, ^^ I sup- 
pose there is scarcely a minister in this land but from 
Sabbath to Sabbath used to p7'aj/ that God Avould 
pour out his Spirit and work a reformation and a 
revival of religion in the country, and turn us from 
our intemperance, profaneness, uncleanness, worldli- 
ness and other sins. And we have kept, from year 
to year, days of public fasting and prayer to God, to 
acknowledge our backslidings and humble ourselves 
for our sins, and to seek of God forgiveness and 
reformation : and now when so great and extensive 
a reformation is so suddenly and wonderfully accom- 
l)lished in those very things that we have sought to 
God for, shall we not acknowledge it ?'' 

Whitfield preached to audiences in Boston, in 
1740, that would be called great even at this day. 



126 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

At his farewell sermon on the I2th of October, on 
the Common, he had twenty thousand hearers ; an 
assembly as large as two hundred thousand would 
now be, if regard be had to the population at the 
two dates. He had his enemies, however; and one 
writer gives it as his opinion that '^ every exhortation 
given here by Whitfield costs the people of Boston a 
thousand pounds?'* The same writer described the 
preacher as a '' vagrant enthusiast, with an ill-point- 
. ed zeal." 

At a meeting of the General Association of the 
Colony of Connecticut, at Newington, June i8, 1/45, 
the following action was had : 

^^ Votedy Whereas there have of late years been 
many errors in doctrine and disorders in practice pre- 
vailing in the churches of this land, which seem to 
have a threatening aspect on these churches ; and 
whereas Mr. George Whitfield has been the promo- 
ter, or at least the faulty occasion of these errors and 
disorders ; this Association thinks it needful to de- 
clare that if the said Mr. Whitfield should make his 
progress through this government, it would by no 
means be advisable for any of our ministers to admit 
him into their pulpits, or for any people to attend on 
his preaching.'' 

Although in our day the terms " religious ex- 
citement," " spasmodic effort," and the like are 
less frequently bandied than formerly, still there are 
many who gravely shake their heads when revivals 
are commended, and recoil at the mention of the 



OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS, 127 

very name, as if some evil inevitably lurked behind 
that designation. 

Perhaps there is this poor apology for most of such 
persons, that they are constitutionally timid, or ex- 
cessively conservative ; or they may not have wit- 
nessed revivals, unless it be the most unfavorable 
specimens. 

It is sad to be compelled to say that strong 
churches (using a popular term) oftenest object to 
revivals ; and that, too, when they owe their present 
strength to revivals. In conversation with Bishop 
Simpson, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the 
writer was struck with the remark, that the 
wealthiest churches in that denomination, in New 
York and the other cities, were indebted to revivals for 
their independence ; and that he extremely regretted 
the tendency often witnessed on the part of such 
churches, to think hghtly of, and labor httle for 
special outpourings of the Spirit. 

In referring to the great benefits which the 
Presbyterian churches of Philadelphia have derived 
from revivals in the past, the Presbyterian of that 
city says: "But are any inchned to think that 
we have reached a stage to which such things 
arc not adapted ? — especially that revivals be- 
long to the less cultivated, refined, wealthy, fashion- 
able congregations? Let it be remembered that the 
most intellectual ministers of our Church were con- 
verted through revival services ; that in every revival 
period the ablest of judges, lawyers, and physicians 
in the neighborhood, are numbered among the con- 



1 2 8 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

verts ; that our continued salvation is worked out by 
awakenings in our colleges, in connection with which, 
through the labors of talented and refined Professors, 
the intellectual young men of the day are brought 
into the ministry of reconciliation. It is a great pity 
if any of our people who have risen in the scale of 
wealth, and desire to be considered especially 
respectable and fashionable, consider themselves 
above such precious influences, and unadvisedly 
imagine that these are only appropriate to the poorer 
and the less pretentious /' 

It may be asked at the outset, ^^ Do not revivals 
presuppose corresponding periods of declension ? " Sup- 
pose it be so ; and that God foresaw these wicked 
backslidings of his people, and planned revivals to 
overbalance them. Is there any objection to this 
view? Another answer is this: It is not in contrast 
with religious declension^ but religions activity 
specially directed to other ends — to the cultivation of 
Christian gifts and graces within the church itself — 
that we speak of this more direct and engrossing 
activity of the churches. Suppose we say, again, 
that God by thus doing adjusts himself to the 
great law of change, — the law and love of variety 
wrought, as it would seem, into the very substance 
and texture of the human mind. We see it to be 
the case that an equable perpetuity of interest is 
not according to man's nature. The mind freshens, 
then it flags; now moves more earnestly in this di- 
rection, now in that. It demands a certain sort of 
variety even in its religious interests and labors : 



OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS. 129 

now in the work of conversion ; then in the w^ork 
of edification, preparing Christians for the trials of 
their profession and the work of their calling. 
Suppose we say, too, that bitsiiiess has its revivals ; — 
politics its revivals ; — and pleasure its revivals. And 
cannot God rise higher than they, and put them 
down by giving better things the ascendancy? 

We do not see why these considerations do not 
meet the difficulty. 

The term special effort is odious to some. It is 
enough to disturb their nerves. Anything new is 
terrifying. With them the extraordinary is the 
extravagant. But we might show them how fertile 
in invention the men of the world are in carrying 
their points ; quickly trying another measure where 
one does not succeed ; and ask, Should not *' the chil- 
dren of hght" be equally wise? Such persons would 
do well to remember that without change* there 
could be no progress. True conservatism is cautious, 
and not rash ; but those who are ever bringing for- 
ward the past as a precedent for to-day, would do 
well to remember that the present itself was founded 
on the alteration of some past that went before it. 
Where had the churches been to-day had not Chris- 
tian effort been breaking forth in new directions? 

Excesses arc pleaded as sufficient ground for 
being cautious as to revivals. We arc sorry to 
admit that these have existed ; and probably they 
will exist, to a greater or less extent, as long as men 
are what they are. 

But is not a storm preferable to a parching 
6* 



I30 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



drought? The economy of nature admits of the 
possibiHty of fearful torrents if it rain, — brawHng 
down the mountain sides, tearing up the meadows, 
and leaving sand instead of fertility on the plain. 
Why not, therefore, object to rain ? Doubtless, on 
the whole, the atmospheric arrangement is a good 
one. Let us not, then, oppose revivals because 
occasionally the religious impulse rises above the 
usual level, and flows over the ordinary channels, 
and does some incidental mischief. Better have 
noisy animal excitement than that the sterile wastes 
of worldliness should noi be transformed into fruitful 
gardens of the Lord. The greatest possible evil is 
a deadly insensibility I When the house is on fire 
and the family asleep, better that they be awakened 
by violence than consumed. Better rouse them 
even at the expense of insanity than let them perish 
in the flames. 

We must also remember that the greatest and 
best actions have ever been performed in stages of 
excited feeling and high personal exaltation. And 
it is Dr. Bushnell, we believe, who says ^' If any one 
expects to carry on the cause of salvation by a steady 
rolling on the same dead level, and fears continually 
lest the axles wax hot and kindle into a flame, he 
is too timorous to hold the reins in the Lord^s 
chariot.'* 

There is also this reply to be made to those who 
decry revivals because they produce agitation. They 
do not condemn excitement in other things. They 
wuU see as much enthusiasm in a political cabal, or 



OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS. 131 

in an election of civil officers, or in a commercial 
speculation, or even in the pursuits of science, as in 
a revival of religion, and not object to it. They will 
allow and demand excitement in the orator, the 
poet, the statesman, the warrior ; — a man may be 
ardent on any subject but religion, while on this 
subject they denounce fervor as fanaticism. Nobody 
complains of excitement when a ship is going down, 
or when half a city is on fire, or in political revolu- 
tions. And can any good reason be given, why, when 
the great majority of a congregation are slumbering 
on the brink of eternal ruin, they should not, if pos- 
sible, be alarmed and excited '' to flee from the wrath 
to come ?" Mr. Barnes once said, ^'From whence comes 
the objection that revivals are mere scenes of excite- 
ment? From that man ^;r^/^^^ throughout the whole 
week in pursuit of gain, feverish and restless, and 
unacquainted for one whole hour at a time with calm 
thought and repose ; from that man whose life is 
spent in the whirlwind of political controversy or in 
the career of ambition ; from that calm and interest- 
ing group preparing for the splendid party and the 
dance ! O tlicre all is calm and serene ; but in reli- 
gion all is excitement and commotion ! Well may 
this objection be heard from the excited, agitated, 
tumultuous population of a city ; a population more 
than any other on earth living in scenes of excite- 
ment ; unhappy when they arc not excited; foster- 
ing everywhere the means of excitement ; and resist- 
ing all the means which the friends of rcHgion can 
use to bring them to sober thought and cahii reflcc- 



132 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

tion. What we aim at is that this excitement may 
be laid aside, and that the now busy multitude may be 
brought to tliink soberly about the immortal destiny 
beyond the tomb. We aim that they may lay down 
the exciting romance or novel, and take up the Bible 
— full of sober truth ; that they may forsake the the- 
atre — a place of mere excitement, and find happiness 
in the calmness of the closet, and the sober employ- 
ments of the fireside ; that they may turn away from 
the agitating scenes of political strife, and from the 
exciting of envy, and malice, and green-eyed jealousy, 
and ambition, and from the intoxicating bowl and the 
dance of pleasure, and devote themselves to the sober 
business of religion/' 

Farther. Is the good to be denounced with the 
bad? Because there is undue enthusiasm, sometimes, 
in revivals, are wx to be indifferent toward them ? To 
borrow an illustration, if you should hear a lecture on 
science, or politics, or religion, in which you should dis- 
cover a few mistakes, while nearly the whole of it was 
sound, and practical, and in a high degree instruct- 
ive, w^ould you condemn the whole for these trifling 
errors, and say it was all a mass of absurdity ; or 
would you not rather treasure it up in your memory 
as in the main excellent, though you felt that, like 
every^thing human, it was marred by imperfection ? 
And why should not the same principle be admitted 
in respect to revivals ? Is it right, is it honest, 
because there may be in them a small admixture of 
enthusiasm, to treat them as if they were made up 
of enthusiasm and nothing else ? Would it not be 



OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS. 133 

more equitable and more candid to separate the 
precious from the vile, rather than to lump together 
the devil's dross and the God-given ore ? And we 
may say of the blessed works which w^e have traced 
in previous chapters, with Edwards, " If such things 
are enthusiasm, and the fruits of a distempered brain, 
let my brain be evermore possessed of that happy dis- 
temper ! If this be distraction, I pray God that the 
world of mankind may be all seized with this benign, 
meek, beneficent, beatifical, glorious distraction !" 

Spurious conversions^ it is alleged, come of this 
excitement. But we may say ^' What is the chaff 
to the wheat?'* Spurious conversions there no 
doubt are in revivals. So are there in seasons of 
coldness. And it is by no means clear that the 
proportion of false hopes cherished in revivals is 
greater than in other seasons. 

Dr. Humphrey tells of 85 converts added in one 
revival ; and he ^' is able to say that now at the eixl 
of thirty-seven years from the time of their public 
espousals to Christ, there has not, so far as I can 
learn, been a single case of apostasy from the faith 
once delivered to the saints, nor of yielding to the 
mastery of any of those habits which disgrace the 
Christian name, and drown men in destruction and 
perdition." 

Dr. Nettleton said : *^ During the leisure occa- 
sioned by my late illness, I have been looking over 
the regions where God has revived his work for the 
two years past. The thousands who have professed 
Christ in this time, in general, appear to run well. 



134 



HAXDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



Hitherto I think they have exhibited more of the 
Christian temper, and a better example than the 
same number who have professed religion when 
there was no revival. If genuine religion is not found 
i7i revivals I have no evidence that it exists in our 
worldy This is strong testimony ; but no stronger 
than numerous pastors could present. And it con- 
firms the view we would naturally receive of a pow- 
erful work of grace, namely, that just then we should 
have the best fruits ; — less of man's work, and more 
of God's ; less of calculation, and more of conviction ; 
less of head-work, and more of heart-work ; less of 
theoretical persuasion, and more of direct, practical, 
moral earnestness ; — and so developing a purer, more 
vigorous, and more highly vitalized Christian charac- 
ter than in times when there is less of ^^ the demon- 
stration of the Spirit aad of power." 

It is often objected to revivals that the sympa- 
ihies are liable to be wrought upon. Now, as we 
have elsewhere insisted, it is of vast importance that 
in religious awakenings solid instruction be given, 
and the understanding be addressed. And if there 
be these clear and vivid exhibitions of divine truth, 
upon what ground is the excitement of the sympa- 
thies to be objected to ? As God moves the mind 
according to its nature, why may he not employ the 
sympathetic principle to awaken, soften and prepare 
the way for conversion? '* I have yet to learn," 
remarks Mr. Barnes, ^^ why religion is to be regarded 
as suspicious and tarnished because the pleadings of 
a father or mother, or the tears of a sister have been 



OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS, 135 

the occasion^ though amidst deep excitement, of 
directing the thoughts to eternity. To me it seems 
there is a pecuHar loveliness in the spread of religion 
in this way ; and I love to contemplate Christianity 
calling to its aid whatever of tenderness, kindness 
and love there may be existing in the bosom of fallen 
and erring man. These sympathies are the precious 
remains of the joys of paradise lost ; they may be 
made invaluable aids in the work of securing paradise 
again. They serve to distinguish man, though fallen, 
from the dis-social and unsympathizing apostasy of 
beings of pure malignancy in hell, and their exist- 
ence in man may have been one of the reasons why 
he was selected for redemption, while fallen angels 
were passed by in their sins. On no subject have 
we so many common interests at stake as in religion. 
I look upon a family circle. What tender feelings ! 
What mutual love ! What common joys ! What 
united sorrows! The blow that strikes one member 
strikes all. The joy that lights up one countenance 
diffuses its smiles over all. Together they kneel by 
the side of the one that is sick; together they 
rejoice at his recovery; or they bow their heads and 
weep when he dies, and put on the same sad habili- 
ments of grief and walk to his grave. Nor are these 
all their common joys and woes. They are plunged 
into the same guilt and danger. They are together 
under the fearful visitations of that curse which h.is 
travelled down from the first apostasy of man. 
They are going to a common abode beneath the 
ground. And that guilty and suffering circle, too, 



136 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

may be irradiated with the same beam of hope, and 
the same bahn of Gilead. and the same great Physi- 
cian may impart heaUng there. Now we ask why 
they may not become Christians together? Sunk in 
the same woes, why may they not rise to the same 
immortal hope ? When one member is awakened, 
why should not the same feeling run through the 
united group ? When one is impressed with the 
great thoughts of immortality, why should not the 
same thoughts weigh on each spirit ? And when the 
eyes of one kindle with the hope of eternal life, why 
should not every eye catch the immortal radiance, 
and every heart be filled with the hope of heaven ? 
And why may we not appeal to them by all the 
hopes of sitting down together in a world of bliss, 
and by all the fears of being separated to different 
destinies in an eternal heaven or hell?^' 

In fact, it is one strong argument for revivals that 
this principle of sympathy is then brought into ex- 
ercise. A parent, brother, sister, child, sees another 
member of the family weeping with a sense of sin, and 
asking prayers, or rejoicing in a new found hope, or 
separating, by profession, from the world and enter- 
ing into the company of believers. The sight of 
the eye affects the heart, and the inquiry starts, 
'^ Am I to go to hell, while that dear one goes to 
heaven? Do not I need religion, too?** And thus 
the current of thoughtlessness is interrupted, and 
the mind becomes impressible and attentive : and 
this gained, there is reason to hope that farther pro- 
gress will be made. 



-OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS, 137 

Thus viewed, an objection to revivals becomes an 
argument in their favor. 

It is sometimes said that to expect revivals pre- 
vents uniforin effort. We answer that it is only so 
with those who are not well instructed. If the min- 
ister will keep prominent the duty of uniform effort, 
most of his people will respond to his views. And 
there is no question but that, as a rule, those ready 
to labor in revivals are just the persons engaged in 
steady work ; while those who cry out ^^ excitement" 
find it convenient, somehow, to be idlers in God's 
vineyard. 

'' But the excitement soon subsides, and then 
there is a reaction^ True, the special excitement is 
only temporary. In the nature of the case it could 
not be otherwise. And farther, there may be reac- 
tion. Is there not in all special work, of every kind ? 
But does the pastor, the politician, or the farmer 
decline special effort at special times from fear there 
will be reaction in the overworked brain, or body ? 
What folly to plead the law of rest against the lazv 
of special zvork I 

Let us add here the words of Rev. T. L. 
Cuyler : '* It is made an objection to revivals of reli- 
gion that they are * mere temporary excitements.' 
True enough. Pentecost lasted one day, but that one 
day changed the moral face of the globe. Luther's 
Reformation work was comprised within a few years ; 
Europe and the world feel it to this hour. The mem- 
orable revival of 1857 began with a few praying 
hearts in New York — it culminated in a few weeks ; 



138 HAISTDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

its outward phenomena ceased in a twelve-month. 
The influence spread across the seas, and around the 
globe. Did the results end with the end of the ex- 
citement ? Have its converts all gone back to un- 
belief and ungodliness ? No ! That revival has its 
enduring monuments in nearly every church on this 
continent. Its history will blaze on one of the 
brightest pages of God's record-books which shall 
be opened on the day of judgment. Revivals ^r^ 
temporary in duration. This is partly to be accounted 
for through God's sovereignty, and partly through 
human imperfection. Revivals are commonly short- 
lived, and they often are attended with a few excesses 
and false conversions. But would any sane man ob- 
ject to copious rain because it did not continue to 
rain on forever? Would he object to it, either, be- 
cause it had swelled a few streams into a freshet, 
and carried off a few mill-dams and bridges ? Shall 
we do away with steam power simply because the 
boiler of the '' St. John" exploded and blew a dozen 
human beings into eternity? Revivals are indeed 
attended with incidental dangers ; but they are only 
such as belong to the constitution of imperfect human 
nature. They are in accordance with the divine 
plan. They are in harmony with church-agency in 
the best days of the church's history." 

And it must farther be said, that revivals are not 
followed by the same coldness and levity that pre- 
ceded them. They leave an impression in the moral 
feelings of the community, which is not soon effaced. 
But, if it were true, as it regards the unconverted, it 



OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS. 135 

is what might be expected. It is only the relapse of 
minds ever averse to seriousness, and anxious for 
relief from the inquietudes of conscience, into their 
old and settled courses. Revivals do not pi^oditce 
the levity of worldly minds. They powerfully inter- 
rupt it. For the time being, and commonly long 
after, the ball-room and bar-room are deserted, com- 
paratively if not entirely, and Sabbath-breakers find 
their way to the house of God. Is it any argument 
against revivals, that the depraved heart, though 
awed for the time by the manifest tokens of divine 
presence, can at last resist their influence and turn 
like the children of Israel before the mount of God, 
to idols of their own choosing? 

But *^ Is it 7tot better to have conversions all the 
while f Certainly. Labor for them, and be not sat- 
isfied without them. And we admit that in an im- 
portant sense that is a wrong state of things which 
needs a revival. Possibly the time will come when re- 
vivals will not be needed; when, as we might say, 
there will be a perpetual revival. But we are not to 
prescribe modes of operation to the Almighty. And 
if he choose to water his church by occasional show- 
ers, rather than with the perpetual dew of his grace ; 
and this more at one period, and on one continent, 
than at other times and places, we should rejoice 
and be grateful for the rich effusions of his Spirit in 
any form and manner; and should endeavor to avail 
ourselves of these precious seasons, for the conver- 
sion of sinners. We know that many good men 
have supposed, and still suppose, that the best way 



I40 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



to promote religion, is to go along uniformly^ and 
gather in the ungodly gradually, and without excite- 
ment. But however sound such reasoning may ap- 
pear in the abstract, facts demonstrate its futility. 
If the church were far enough advanced in knowl- 
edge, and had stability of principle enough to keep 
awake ^ such a course would do ; but the church is so 
little enlightened, and there are so many counteract- 
ing causes, that she will not go steadily to work with- 
out a special interest being awakened. 

" But, Is not a periodical and special divine influ^ 
ence on men for tlieir conversion derogatory to God ? 
Is he not ahvays present and ready to bless?''' Yes; 
but our sins may separate between him and us. 
And again, he may be as truly blessing the world in 
the edification of his people as by the direct conver- 
sion of sinners. But not to insist on this here, let it 
be observed that this objection is easily seen to be 
superficial. On this principle there ought to be no 
intervals of drought or rain ; — no revolving cycles of 
change, but either continuous drenching rains or 
ever-scorching suns. Instead of this, we see that 
while God is unchangeable in his purpose, he is vari- 
ous in his methods. Revivals are in accordance 
with the analogy of nature, which has its seasons of 
revivification and rapid growth followed by seasons 
of ripening fruit and maturing strength. They are 
in harmony with the nature of man, who requires 
alternate seasons of activity and repose ; of stirring 
labor and excitement on the one hand, and on the 
other of tranquil enjoyment and sober reflection ; 




OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS. 141 

each in turn preparing the body and the mind for 
the other, and both in their due season imparting 
health and vigor to the system, and conspiring to 
produce the largest possible results. Revivals 
accord especially with the habits and spirit of the 
present age, which is an age of excitement, of divis- 
ion of labor, of associated feeling and action, of con- 
centrated effort, and hurried enterprise and rapid 
locomotion. 

'' But w^hy not be content with a moderate growth 
instead of gi^-^at mid rapid ingatherings ? " Because 
it is not primitive ; not after God's plan. In the 
early churches conversions were by the hundred and 
the thousand. The word spread, not with that mod- 
eration insisted on by those who are always afraid 
of being charged with extravagance, but with the 
sweep and power of a divine movement. And the 
agents were borne onward as on the wings of the 
wind, willing to be a laughing-stock to men ; willing 
to hear an outcry from the world which they were 
turning upside down. 

But one sufficient answer is, that this *^ going on 
steadily" (i. e. slowly) leaves the great mass of men 
in their sins, and coolly consigns whole generations 
to hell ! For death does not wait for our slow pro- 
cesses ! 

But ''why do you have revivals at partieular sea- 
sons^ :xs in the winter for example?'' Suppose we 
ask in reply, '' Why do you have your Lecture seasons 
in the winter, rather than summer ? — and your 
social entertainments, and the like?" Is it unreason. 



142 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



able or ar-rogant to suppose that there are with God 
prudential considerations leading to this choice of 
times and seasons for his special and signal working, 
based upon this fact, that certain times are more 
favorable than others for his works ? 

We have thus alluded to some of the common 
objections to revivals. No doubt it is generally 
rather to some of their incide7ital features that 
objection is made than to revivals themselves. It 
is unfair and unreasonable, however, to hold revivals 
accountable for the evils that sometimes attach to 
them. When Whitfield was once preaching in 
Boston, a meeting-house was so packed that the 
gallery was supposed to be giving away, and there 
was a panic in which several persons were trampled 
to death. Did the blame attach to the revival? 
Persons sometimes take cold in a revival. Is that 
the fault of the revival? 

This is a painful object to write upon. One might 
suppose that anything fraught with such blessings as 
are revivals would be welcomed universally ; that 
churches long praying for such a time would gladly 
mark the first appearance of it, and that ministers 
long mourning their own and their people's dead- 
ness would rejoice in its approach. But alas! it is" 
otherwise. '' It is no new thing," says one, *^ for the 
zuorld io spit upon Christ and revile Him, — no new 
thing for unregenerate and foolish men to blaspheme 
the work of the Spirit; but sad indeed is it that any 




OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS. 143 

that are his should hide their faces from Uim and 
from his work ! " 

Are none who ought to be leaders in the world's 
conquest, from this very cause failing of influence ? 
Are no preachers open to the censure conveyed in 
the remark of a hearer, that his minister, apparently, 
would rather that souls should remain unconverted 
than be converted in any way except his ? 

Not far from the scene of a revival, one cold day, 
stood two men in conversation. They belonged to 
different churches, and the following was the sub- 
stance of their discourse : 

'' What is the state of religion in your church ?" 

" Very cold, indeed, sir : it is as far below the 
freezing point as is the temperature of the atmo- 
sphere." 

'* And what is your minister preaching about?'' 

" He is laboring to show the danger of animal 
excitement in religion.'' 

The conversation closed with the exclamation, 
"The danger of animal excitement! Why, surely 
the man's sermons would be better adapted to the 
state of his congregation if he were to preach on the 
danger of being spiritually frost-bitten ! " 

The pungent Mr. Ryle, in one of his tracts, gives 
these utterances: '' The plain truth is, that many be- 
lievers in the present day seem so dreadfully afraid 
of doing harm that they hardly ever dare to do any 
good. There are many who are fruitful in objections, 
but barren in actions ; rich in wet blankets, but poor 
in anything like Christian fire. They are like the 



144 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



Dutch deputies, who would never allow Marlborough 
to venture anything, and by their excessive caution, 
prevented many a victory from being won.'* It 
must be confessed that this representation is but too 
true. 

A home missionaiy in the West vvTote some time 
since as follows : ^' If Christians were half as much 
excited about a heavenly inJieritance as the people 
here are, and have been for a few months past, about 
Goverrnnent land, village lots, mill sites, cultivated 
farms, etc., etc., they would be branded at once with 
the wildest kind of fanaticism. How strange that 
professors of religion are fairly beside themselves 
in the anxiety to secure a little of this world's goods, 
and yet that some of them, if they chance to hear 
a poor sinner cry, '' God be merciful to me a sinner,'* 
or witness deep anxiety for a lost world, are ready 
to cry, "Excitement! Excitement! It is all excite- 
m.ent." 

-The very orthodoxy of some is made an occa- 
sion for inactivity. They cry out, ^' You are trying 
to get up a revival in your own strength : take care, 
you are interfering with the sovereignty of God : 
better keep along in the usual course, and let God 
give a revival when he thinks it is best : God is a 
sovereign, and it is very wrong for you to attempt to 
have a revival, just because you think a revival is 
needed ! " Now no fact (as we have elsewhere taken 
occasion to show) is more apparent in revivals than 
that of the divine sovereignty. But such talk as 
this is just what Satan likes, and men cannot do his 



OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS. I45 

work more effectually than by thus preaching up 
the sovereignty of God as a reason why we should 
not put forth revival efforts. 

An diOXw^X participation 2.i\6i personal experience in 
precious revivals would dissipate many a man's 
objections. It makes a vast difference in one's 
estimate of a revival whether he enter into it or look 
at it. In the Memoirs of the late Mr. William Daw- 
son is the following anecdote : 

Mr. Dawson was one day accosted by an individ- 
ual who said he had been present at a certain meet- 
ing ; that he liked the preaching very well, but was 
much dissatisfied with the prayer-meeting ; adding, 
that he usually lost all the good he had received 
during the sermon by remaining in these noisy 
meetings. Mr. D. replied that he should have 
united with the people of God in the prayer-meet- 
ing, if he desired to profit by it. *' Oh ! " said the 
gentleman, '' I went into the gallery, where I leaned 
over the front, and saw the whole. But I could get 
no good ; I lost, indeed, all the benefit I had received 
during the sermon.*' 

'• It is easy to account for that," rejoined Mr. 
Dawson. 

**Howso?" inquired the other. 

*' You mounted to the top of the house, and, on 
looking down your neighbor's chimney to see what 
kind of a fire he kept, you got your eyes filled with 
smoke. Had you entered by the door and gone 
into the room and mingled with the family around 
the household hearth, you would have enjoyed the 
7 



146 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

benefit of the fire as well as they. Sir, you have got 
the smoke in your eyes!'^ 

The writer would most earnestly entreat all 
opponents of revivals to look more thoroughly into 
the matter, — to ascertain, as far as possible, in what 
a revival really consists, — and to prove their own 
selves, lest it be found in the great day that they 
have been ** fighting against God/' 

That man takes an awful responsibility who 
assumes to utter a word in disparagement of 
revivals of religion. 

There are few names in our country's annals more 
conspicuous, for good or for evil, than that of Aaron 
Burr. Of his talents none can doubt. His defects 
were moral rather than intellectual, consisting in a 
total apostasy from the religion of his fathers, and in 
the lawlessness of one who had deliberately cast off 
fear and restrained prayer before God. His father 
was an earnest Christian minister ; his mother one 
of the most devout women of her times, the daugh- 
ter of Jonathan Edwards, and the off-shoot of a 
domestic circle which has been represented as more 
nearly resembling the life of heaven than any other 
on earth. Mr. Parton, in his Life of Aaron Burr, 
perhaps without intending it, tells, Ijpw this apostasy 
came about. During his last y^t^S©: college (at 
Princeton) there was a revival in the institution. 
'* Burr confessed that he was moved by thg revi- 
val. He respected the religion of his mother ; he 
had taken for granted the creed in which he had 
been educated. Therefore, though he was repelled. ,4. 



OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS. 1 47 

by the wild excitement which prevailed, and disgusted 
by the means employed to excite terror, his mind 
was not at ease. He consulted Dr. Witherspoon in 
this perplexity. The clergymen of the time were 
divided in opinion upon the subject of revivals ; 
those educated in the old country being generally 
opposed to them. President Witherspoon was of 
that number, and he accordingly told the anxious stu- 
dent that the raging excitement was fanatical, not 
truly religious, and Burr went away relieved." This 
is believed to be the key to Burr's apostate career. 

Assuming that that opinion of the revival was the 
real cause of his going away '' relieved," what terrible 
consequences followed that advice. For Burr pro- 
ceeded to drink in with avidity the reasonings of the 
French and English infidels, which were much in vogue 
at the time. These prepared him for the profligate 
habits which distinguished him through life, which 
procured his arraignment at the bar of his country 
for high treason, which involved him in his fatal 
duel with Hamilton, and which made him ever after 
an outcast and a vagabond in the earth. It causes 
a shudder to think that possibly that deprecia- 
ting remark as to the revival made him the lib- 
ertine, the duellist, the plotter against his govern- 
ment, the heartless seducer, and the victim of a 
supreme selfishness that he was. And it is an illus- 
tration of the sad consequences that may follow the 
utterance of one word against revivals. 

It will be remembered that our Saviour claimed 
J' for his miracles that they were wrought by the 



148 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVA LS. 

Spirit of God. The Pharisees attributed them to the 
agency of Satan. What that sin was the context 
tells us. ^^All manner of sin and blasphemy shall 
be forgiven unto men : but the blasphemy against 
the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.*' 
*^ Whosoever speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost 
it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, 
neither in the world to come.** Revivals also claim 
to be wrought by the Spirit of God. If they are so^ 
what the sin of speaking against them is, it is not for 
us to say — farther than that it is in some sense, at 
least, the sin of '' speaking against the Holy Ghost.** 
The degree of the guilt depends on the means of 
knowledge and the malignity of purpose. We would 
neither presume nor wish to say, that in any case it 
is unpardonable ; but who would not shun the possi- 
biHty of speaking contemptuously of the work of the 
Spirit? ^^ Beware therefore,'* says an apostle, 'Mest 
that come upon you which is spoken in the proph- 
ets ; behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish : 
for I work a work in your day, a work which ye 
shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it 
unto you." He that will speak lightly of revivals, 
should ponder these words deeply, and remember 
that he will be called upon in the great day to con- 
front the fact that he took it upon himself to con- 
demn those scenes of religious awakening which 
brought such gladness to such multitudes of souls. 

Nor let it be forgotten, that one may be secretly 
doubtful and indifferent as to revivals ; and so, though 
not openly opposing them, be practically against 



OBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS. I^g 

them. Such persons cannot be relieved of the re- 
sponsibility of being opposed, in spirit and in prac- 
tice, to revivals by their silent and negative course 
regarding them. To have no positive faith in revi- 
vals is to be averse and contrary to them. Revivals 
are so big with consequences, so instinct with life and 
power, that they cannot be objects of attention 
without moving the mind one way or another, with- 
out being hated where they are not loved, dreaded 
where they are not desired, though peculiar circum- 
stances of expediency may repress positive expres- 
sions of aversion. Such persons will not only do 
nothing in favor of revivals, but amidst studied 
silence and reserve will do much against them. Can 
the preaching of ministers be otherwise than essen- 
tially hostile to revivals, who are not without doubts 
whether revivals are not the work of man, or perhaps 
of man and Satan united ? The state of mind which 
dictates such a strain of preaching cannot but dic- 
tate a similar strain of conversation ; and though 
direct unfriendliness may not be intended, yet it 
will be exerted, and exerted in the most decisive and 
effectual manner. 

And this thought must be added ; that ministers 
may believe in revivals, and still be practically 
opposed to them, because their one great, earnest 
aim is not to bring sinners to immediate repent- 
ance ; which is the very spirit of revivals. 

*' O Lord, Revive Thy Work." 



- CHAPTER VI. 

POSITION OF EVANGELISTS. 

11 rE may define evangelists as preachers without 
pastoral charges. As thus defined, the apos- 
tles were evangeHsts, — tellers of the good tidings to 
the people at large. 

Paul was the prince of evangelists. In five and 
twenty years he travelled three times over a great 
part of Asia and Europe. Twice he spent two years 
as a prisoner, preaching to all who came to him, as 
well as to successive soldiers to whom he was 
chained. At one place he wintered, at another he 
spent a year and a half, at a third two whole years, 
so preaching '^ that all they that dwell in Asia heard 
the word of the. Lord Jesus." 

Our blessed Lord went from place to place 
preaching and performing his mighty works. In the 
three years of his public life he travelled three times 
over Galilee. Three times he visited Jerusalem. 
For weeks together he preached at Capernaum, a 
border town where many were coming and going. 
Six months he labored beyond Jordan, and twice he 
sent out disciples to extend his work. He came not 
mainly to teach, and yet through his public life he 
labored as an itinerant. It was thus that he spread 
his gospel among perhaps three millions of people. 



POSITION OF E VANGELISTS, 1 5 I 

Modern missionaries, in the main, are evangelists. 
So were many of the earnest preachers of early days. 
Whitfield spent most of his life as an evangelist. So 
did John Wesley, who rode horseback 100,000 miles 
in his visits from place to place. 

In this country from the earliest times, there have 
been men acting as evangelists. More than a hun- 
dred years ago the Philadelphia Baptist Association 
appointed Rev. Messrs. Edwards and Gano to visit 
and preach as evangelists. Dr. Nettleton, in the first 
half of the present century, was a famous evangelist* 
Inspired with the earnest wish to give himself to the 
foreign mission service, but prevented from so doing, 
he gave himself to the work of an evangelist ; first 
among destitute churches, and then, upon the calls 
of his brethren, to the visitation of churches with 
pastors. And everywhere the Lord went with him 
and wonderfully blessed his labors. Eternity alone 
will tell the multitudes led to Christ in connection 
with his itinerant services. The names of others 
might be mentioned, who were also much blessed in 
this work. 

And yet such labors in our day are not looked 
upon with favor. A chief cause is found in the im- 
prudence of some evangelists. Great scandal was 
brought upon this class of preachers by one James 
Davenport, more than a century ago. His excesses 
caused the ministry to look with suspicion upon this 
style of service, and to dread even the name evan- 
gelist. 

Rev. Joseph Fish, of Stonington, Conn., in a 



152 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



sermon which he published in 1763, informs us of 
the visit of Mr. Davenport to his church some 
twenty years previously. Speaking of the revivals of 
that day, he says, *' In these strange operations, there 
was a marvellous mixture of almost every thing 
good and dad— truth and error, chaff and wheat. 
For while the spirit of God wrought powerfully^ 
Satan raged maliciously^ and acted his old subtle 
part to deceive. This happened, or at least was car- 
ried to the highest pitch, under the preaching and 
ministrations of a wonderful, strange, good man, 
(the Rev. James Davenport, of Long Island,) who vis- 
ited these parts in the time of our religious concern 
and awakening ; a young man of undoubted real 
piety, fervent zeal for God, love to souls, and ardent 
desire to advance the Redeemer's kingdom. But, 
(thus it was permitted,) a man, while with us, under 
the powerful influence of d. false spirit in a great part 
of his conduct, as rnany then told him, and as he 
himself did afterwards acknowledge with deep abase- 
ment. Satan taking the advantage of his zeal in 
religion, transformed himself into an angel of light, 
and hurried him into extremes ; yea, artfully carried 
him beside the truth and duty, and beyond the 
bounds of decency.'' 

It is not difficult to trace the effects of the mis- 
guided zeal of this man in the existing coldness 
towards itinerating ministers. 

And this has been enhanced by men since his 
time. Any one familiar with the religious history 
of the churches for the last forty years, can recall the 



POSITION OF EVANGELISTS, 



153 



names of evangelists who have not commended 
themselves to the good judgment, (if indeed to the 
confidence) of their brethren generally. Dr. Hum- 
phrey, in his Revival Sketches, says : ^^ The great de- 
mand for preaching in western revivals, brought out 
a number of zealous young men with but little expe- 
rience, who felt it their duty to enter into the work 
and help the pastors wherever their services were 
desired. They soon took the name of evangelists, 
or revivalists, as they were more commonly called. 
Some of them, in process of time, became zealous 
overmuch. They introduced measures which many 
pastors of riper judgment and more experience in 
revivals could not approve. And as their zeal in- 
creased, they wanted to go to places where they 
were not sent for. Nor would they be hindered for 
want oi regular invitations. Influential members of 
the churches who sympathized with them were ap- 
proached, and enlisted to overrule the judgment of 
their ministers, and wring from them a reluctant 
consent. If the ministers would not yield, they 
must be broken down, as the phrase was. This was 
often attempted, and sometimes succeeded. Nor 
would the evangelist long consent to labor under 
the advice and direction of the pastor. He must 
give up the reins, and stand aside and look on, or 
take a subordinate part in the revival. The conse- 
quence was, that divisions were created in the 
churches, part holding with the pastors and part 
with the evangelists ; and though scores of converts 
might be announced, some churches were actually 

7* 



154 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



weakened, and to such a degree that if not quite 
broken up, in what has since been called the * burnt 
district/ they have scarcely recovered to this day. 
Not only were good ministers driven from their con- 
gregations in this manner, but such prejudices 
against revivals were created by these extreme meas- 
ures, that it has taken a whole generation to remove 
them." 

But while eccentricities and rashness are justly 
chargeable to some who have acted as evangelists, 
it should not operate as an argument against this 
class of laborers. Richard Baxter remarks that 
though the word of God is divine, our mode of dis- 
pensing it is human ; and there is scarcely anything 
we have the handling of but we leave on it the 
print of our fingers. Imperfection attaches to our 
best endeavors ; and why should we be suspicious 
of a particular kind of labor because of the extrav- 
agance or unworthiness of some who have under- 
taken it ? God knows more than we know ; and it 
becomes us to be slow to denounce that upon which 
he bestows his blessing, even though it seem not to 
deserve our approval. 

Much can be said in favor of this particular in- 
strumentality. Undoubtedly it is of divine appoint- 
ment, for ^^ he gave some evangelists." And if 
it be insisted that their functions in primitive times 
were unlike those performed now, it devolves upon 
the objector to show the essential difference. True, 
they did not labor chiefly with churches, but out- 
side of them ; although this is not clear as to 



POSITION- OF E VA MGEIIS TS, 155 

Apollos, at least, whose fame as an evangelist was in 
all the churches. But at first there were no churches 
with whom evangelists could labor. It was needful 
that they preach in new localities, like our modern 
missionaries. Thi^ carrying the gospel into " the 
regions beyond '' engrossed all their time and atten- 
tion ; a prominent exception, however, being found 
in the apostle Paul, who, with other labors, visited 
and strengthened the churches, — cooperating with 
the pastors. To reason from the early practice there- 
fore, as against the present, seems scarcely allowable. 
We doubt whether an argument against modern evan- 
gelism can be drawn from New Testament order. 

Again: experience attests to the great useful- 
ness of this agency. We have spoken of Whitfield 
and Wesley. It is also well known that Luther and 
his fellow-laborers carried forward the work more as 
evangelists .than as pastors. Hosts of itinerant 
preachers and colporteurs went everywhere convey- 
ing the word of life to the homes and hearts of 
the people. 

The early revivals in this country were directly 
connected with the labors of Edwards, the Tennents, 
Wheelock, Pomroy, Pendleton, and many others, 
who either had no pastoral charges, or gave them up 
for the time, and went out as evangelists to places 
far and near, arousing the churches and warning men 
to repent. The same was true of the later reviv^als ; 
as remarked above in regard to Ncttleton and 
others. 

It were not difficult to point to some men now 



I 56 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

who are honored and beloved as the helpers of pas- 
tors in "^ bringing in sheaves/' and the extent of 
whose usefulness it is impossible to overestimate. 
What multitudes of souls, both among those in glory 
and those toiling for Christ, are witnesses to the good 
accomplished by the untiring energies of men whose 
names might be mentioned. 

We are fully aware of the unfavorable opinion of 
many, as to some of the men and measures connected 
with evangeHsm during the last half century. Nor 
do we say there is no good ground for it. But it 
may well be asked, what had been the condition of 
the churches to-day without that class of labor to 
which exception is taken ? Certainly the churches 
never made greater progress than within the period 
of modern evangelism. And who will undertake to 
say that it is not owning, largely, to the new impulses 
given through this particular branch of effort? 

Farther. We can easily see some peculiar advan- 
tages in evangelistic labor. For one thing, it 
stimulates expectation and hope, and impels to 
prayer and readiness for a blessing. Speaking of the 
great revivals at the beginning of this century, Baird 
says, ^^ As one means of extending the work, minis- 
ters who had enjoyed the presence of God among 
their own people, were selected by some ecclesiasti- 
cal body and sent forth, generally two together, on 
preaching tours among the neighboring churches. 
The expectation of their coming drew large audiences 
wherever they preached.*' 

^* The churches which they visited being, in most 



POSITION OF EVANGELISTS. 



157 



cases, prepared to receive thejn by a previous sea- 
son of fasting and prayer, and animated by their 
presence and labors to redoubled fervor of supplica- 
tion, were, in many cases favored with an immediate 
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Under these and 
similar influences the work of God spread into more 
than one hundred towns in Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut, and into a still greater number of places in 
the new settlements of Vermont, New Hampshire, 
Maine and New York, which had but recently formed 
a wide-spread field of missionary labor.'' 

For the time being, as we see, these men were 
evangelists ; and the facts alleged were what would 
have been expected. For, if a minister and church 
know of the speedy coming of an evangelist, the 
feeling is that they must bestir themselves. Sluggish- 
ness and procrastination are put away. The preach- 
ing is more earnest. Responsibility for the success 
of the proposed special effort is felt ; prayers are 
more fervent and direct ; and thus the way of the 
Lord is prepared. 

Still farther: expectation is awakened in the 
community^ and the people are ready to come to- 
gether, at least to hear the strangers, and to witness 
what occurs. And the first thing in saving men is 
to gain a hearing. A principal reason why the 
masses perish is because they never hear preaching. 

Again : through the labors of evangelists the vari- 
ous gifts of the ministry are in a measure diffused. 
One man has specially the gift to tcacJi, another to 
incite. Or, as we may say, the one prepares fuel, and 



158 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

the other kindles it. One preacher, too, may have 
no aptness in revival work, and another may excel 
in this, and in Httle else. Thus one class of talent 
is supplemented by the other. 

Dr. Geo. B. Ide, of Massachusetts, after a great 
revival among his people in connection with the labors 
of Mr. Earle, said that his parish was like a garden 
in the spring with the beds all laid out, and the 
seeds all planted in them ; and that it only needed 
the additional sunshine that came along with the 
evangelist to make the seeded rows shoot forth. So 
in multitudes of cases. One man plants, and 
another waters ; while it is God that giveth the in- 
crease. One sows, (he is specially fitted for that :) 
and another reaps (he is specially fitted for that). 
And again one man excels in winning souls to 
Christ, and another in building them up in the faith. 
And why should not all the gifts of the ministry be 
brought into requisition, and diffused far as possible 
among the churches for their edification ? 

How often, too, does a disheartened minister find 
cheer and strength in the coming of an evangelist. 
His work may drag heavily ; and yet a little added 1 11 
power would accomplish wonders. Mr. Earle once 
likened himself to the additional horse with whififle- 
tree attached to hitch on and help pull the load 
up the hill. The disciples went forth two by two. 
But the pastor labors on alone ; and like ^^the com- 
ing of Titus" of old, may be the visit of a brother min- 
ister. Iron sharpeneth iron ; countenance cheers 
countenance ; and so the feeble hands become 



POSITION OF EVANGELISTS, 



159 



strong, and the work goes bravely on. Often is a 
single visit of an evangelist the very thing that 
saves a church, and insures a long and successful pas- 
torate. But for this many a man had quitted his 
field, and let the interest die. 

Hundreds upon hundreds of feeble churches, too, 
without settled pastors, have been saved from ex- 
tinction by such visits of God's servants ; and after 
that have been able to support a minister. 

Farther still : a pastor may be overworked ; and 
a failure of health at the beginning of a revival 
among his people, may make the labors of an evan- 
gelist highly desirable for a few weeks or months. 
Anticipating this state of things, Dr. Porter said : 
*^ Such help has often been furnished by the occa- 
sional labors of other pastors, who have had a short 
leave of absence from their own flocks. But perhaps 
the only adequate provision for such emergencies 
would be, that a few men, of rare endowments for 
this particular service, — men of God, distinguished 
for judgment, fervor of piety and suavity of temper, 
— should be held in reserve to labor where they are 
most needed, as assistants to stated pastors. These 
men, of course, should be ordained ministers, and 
hold themselves accountable to some regular ecclesi- 
astical body." 

Once more. There is no reason to doubt that it 
pleases God to bestow his converting grace in special 
measure in connection with the labors of some 
evangelists. It is undeniable that through them 
gr'^at numbers of souls are gathered into the Chris- 



l6o HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

tian ranks ; and there is no conceivable way of ac- 
counting for this acknowledged success but on the 
ground here indicated. It seems good to the most 
High, in the sovereignty of his operations, to ac- 
company with the extraordinary power of the Holy 
Ghost the preaching and the means, which are in 
themselves simple and in no wise remarkable, of men 
whom he has evidently raised up for this particular 
work. The names of Whitfield, Nettleton, the Ten- 
nents, Finney, Knapp, Inskip, Earle, Hammond, 
Dewitt, Graves, Caughey, and others, illustrate this 
remark. i\nd we hold this to be a sufficient warrant 
for the employment of the agency in question. 

Say what we will, God sets the seal of his appro- 
val on these labors ; and what '^ he hath cleansed, 
that call thou not common or unclean.'' 

Nor is it by any means certain that one reason 
for the infrequency of revivals is not to be found in 
the neglect of this instrumentaHty. And if churches 
generally, instead of viewing all evangelists with sus- 
picion, and speaking evil of their work and their 
office, were to f5ray -for more and better men of 
this class, it were a mighty gain to the cause of 
Christ. And when the harvest is so plenteous, and 
the laborers so few, it is little less than appalling to 
witness the frequent indiscriminate denunciation of 
a means which has been, and is, such a power for 
good. 

In saying this we are not depreciating the pastor- 
ate ; far from it. Nor would we be understood to hold 
that the system of evangelism has not its drawbacks, 



POSITION OF E VANGELISTS, 1 6 1 

and could not be improved: There is danger on the 
part of churches of a distrust of the estabHshed means 
of grace, and a morbid craving for extraordinary meas- 
ures : and on the part of the evangehsts, a longing 
for immediate rather than permanent results ; an 
adoption of doubtful measures and management to 
hurry such results; and an unhealthy love of noto- 
riety through the press, and the like. These, and 
perhaps' other tendencies are to be guarded against. 
But such tendencies are not sound objections to the 
system itself; for there is nothing perfect beneath 
the sun. The field is wide for evangelistic labor, and 
in the time when many shall run to and fro and 
knowledge shall be increased, likely it will be more 
extensively called into requisition than now. 

In just this connection some words of caution are 
appropriate. If reliance is placed upon foreign aid to 
such an extent as to diminish the sense of responsi- 
biHty on the part of the church or the pastor, it is a 
serious evil. Sometimes the feeling is that without 
an evangelist nothing can be done ; and so nothing 
is attempted. Sometimes the people wait (in compar- 
ative indolence and hopelessness) until Xh^ promised 
visitation is realized. And sometimes the visit of the 
evangelist having come, it is felt that the work will 
go forward anyhow, as a necessary consequence. 

AH this is wrong. The pastor and his charge 
must feel that it devolves on themy not on him, to 
insure success, in its human aspect. If the impres- 
sion prevail that they are now relieved from obliga- 
tion, and may be lookers-on, no good can come. 



l62 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

The pressure iniist still lie upon their hearts. No 
aid from abroad is useful which tends to release the 
church and the stated ministry from a full, undivided 
sense of responsibility for earnest, active, personal 
effort to carry on the revival. 

~ Yet it should be added, that if a church and min- 
ister will not labor together without assistance, let 
them send for it. Better so than that the wise and 
foolish slumber on, and both perish together. 

And the evangelist himself will need grace to act 
with discretion, in order to secure the greatest bene- 
fit. If wise, he will never use a style of preaching 
that is vulgar in diction or manner, or in any way of- 
fensive to good taste. He will be solemn and not 
trifling; always courteous, and never abrupt, rude, 
or coarse. He will everywhere be the Christian 
gentleman. 

Moreover, he will be exceedingly careful in all 
his ways ; and especially in his intercourse with the 
other sex will avoid even the very appearance of 
evil ; for the eyes of gainsayers are upon him. 

He will be patient, ^' not rendering railing for rail- 
ing, but contrariwise, blessing." He will be much in 
prayer ; will watch his own heart ; will keep humble 
before God ; will study to show himself approved of 
God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, 
rightly dividing the word, and not handling the 
word of God deceitfully. He will be thoroughly 
honest, not using aught of '' pious fraud," or arti- 
fice of any kind to gain a present end, as is some- 
times the case with revival laborers. 



POSITION OF EVANGELISTS, 163 

The good evangelist will also in every way help, 
and not harm the pastor. The pastor is the head of 
the flock, and cannot even temporarily abandon his 
post. He is responsible for results more than any 
one else ; and therefore his opinion and wishes are 
to be respected. Said Nettleton, '' Settled pastors 
have, and ought to have, the. entire management in 
their own congregations. Each one has a right to 
pursue his own measures, within his own limits ; and 
no itinerant has any business to interfere or dictate. 
It will ever be regarded as intermeddling in other 
men's matters.'' 

Good evangelists will not be ready to denounce 
those Christians and those ministers as enemies of 
revivals, who will not yield up to them the reins, nor 
sanction all their movements. There is danger of 
this from the nature of the case. Their minds are 
awake to the soul's salvation ; and they are oppressed 
by its amazing importance. They feel that some- 
thing efficient ought to be done — must be done to 
wake up a slumbering world ; and they naturally 
desire that all Christians should go along with them 
in their efforts. In this state of mind they expect 
nothing but cordial co-operation ; and where they do 
not find it, corrupt nature takes advantage of the 
excitement they have reached, and the disappoint- 
ment they feci, (and perhaps withal of a naturally 
ardent temperament,) to discharge itself not onl)- in 
grievous complaints, but sometimes even bitter 
invective. All this should be guarded against with 
the greatest care. 



164 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS, 

It IS a most delicate service for an itenarant 
preacher to go in and labor with a pastor of ordinary 
standing in a revival. And it requires great wisdom, 
prudence, and self-forgetfulness, lest the latter be 
thrown into the background, and his influence un- 
intentionally impaired. The biographer of Nettleton 
bestows a high praise in saying, that an instance 
probably cannot be mentioned in which his influence 
led to the dismission of a pastor; but many instances 
might be mentioned in which he was instrumental in 
strengthening the hands of pastors. He would treat 
ministers with such kindness, and speak of them with 
such respect, as to make the impression on the 
minds of their people that they were worthy of 
their confidence ; and thus not a few, who had almost 
lost their influence, were firmly reinstated in the 
affections of their people. 

Of course the true evangelist, as we have intima- 
ted, will zvatch his own hearty and be right before 
God. He will not act an assumed part ; affecting a 
measure of sincerity and godliness that does not be- 
long to him. How holy a man does it become him 
to be ! How much on his knees ! How intimate 
and uninterrupted his transactions with the Throne ! 
If Luther trembled every time he entered the pul- 
pit, well may an evangelist tremble as he sets 
foot on new ground, and puts himself into vital con- 
nection with a special work in behalf of God and 
men! His very zeal and success expose him to 
peril. Human passions, hateful pride, and unchar- 
itable bitterness may be mixed with his zeal for the 



POSITION OF EVANGELISTS, 165 

Lord ; and when abundant blessings are showering 
down, the enemy of his soul is sure to attempt to 
puff him up with the idea that he has eminent gifts, 
and the highest tokens of God's favor, and so he may- 
go forth and act among his fellow creatures as if pe- 
culiarly wise and strong and good. 

President Edwards' words on this point are much 
in place ; and no doubt they were called forth by 
some of the revival preachers of his time. He says : 
** There is also great temptation to an assuming be- 
havior in some persons. When a minister is greatly 
succeeded from time to time, and so draws the eyes 
of the multitude upon him, and he sees himself 
flocked after and resorted to as an oracle, and people 
are ready to adore him and to offer sacrifice to him, 
as it was with Paul and Barnabas at Lystra, it is 
almost impossible for a man to avoid taking upon 
him the airs of a master. All young ministers in this 
day of bringing up the ark of God should take warn- 
ing by the example of a young Levite in Israel, 
Uzzah the son of Abinadab. He seemed to have a 
real concern for the ark of God, and to be zealous 
and engaged in his mind ; but God smote him for his 
want of humility and taking too much upon himself.'* 

Doubtless this is one reason why God subjects 
these his servants to so many humiliations, and de- 
feats, and trials. In this way they are kept where 
he can consistently bestow upon their labors his 
blessing. 

It must be added, that if the evangelist should 
respect the position of the pastor, so should the pas- 



l66 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

tor respect the position of the evangehst. Obliga- 
tions are not all on one side. It not unfrequently 
happens that the evangehst is assailed, pubhcly or 
privately, and perhaps by those from whom better 
things should be expected. In such cases, the pas- 
tor, above all others, should *' hold such in reputa- 
tion." Sometimes it may be necessary (not often) 
to resort to the public press to expose a base slander 
or a lurking insinuation. Possibly it may have to 
be done in the open assembly. Except in extreme 
cases, however, it is decidedly better that neither the 
assailed party nor the pastor take any notice of the 
matter. If the brethren of the church, including the 
minister, give to the evangelist their hearty and 
persevering support, all will be well. The ^'strife of 
tongues'* will in this way be silenced ; and God will 
take care of both the workman and the work. 

But a pastor who is not ready to be the true 
brother to the evangelist, acts a very unworthy part 
in inviting him to come to his assistance. 

In this connection we must record the belief, that 
the habit of some excellent brethren in the ministry 
of passing indiscriminate censure upon evangelists 
and their work, is a sin that ought to be repented of. 
Did not our Lord teach that speaking lightly of one 
of his servants was to '' despise him that sent him ? '' 
If mmisters denounce their brethren (who at least 
have a conscience in pursuing their often thankless 
task) what must be expected of the world .^ We com- 
mend the thought to all preachers and theological 
teachers. 



POSITION OF EVAiYGELISTS. 167 

The following resolutions, adopted by an associa- 
tion in Maine, after a season of rich spiritual har- 
vesting, embody sound views upon the topic under 
remark : 

" I. God honors the established ministry of the 
Christain religion by employing, in the conversion of 
sinners, usually, the truth as preached by his faith- 
ful ministers. 

" 2. The establishment of such a ministry, how- 
ever efficient and successful in any branch of the 
church, has by no means exhausted the instrumentali- 
ties of salvation ; the prerogative being still the Lord's 
to project, even into the most cultivated portions of 
his vineyard, new and additional means. 

** 3. Masses of precious truth, imparted by many 
an able and faithful pulpit, sometimes lie inoperative, 
at least in that which is most essential, because 
unquickened by the Spirit — by importunity of prayer 
— by devout ardor of sympathy — by fervor of appeal 
— and by variety of motive made intense and almost 
irresistible. To do this may demand, for a time, 
men and measures not usually employed. 

** 4. Evangelists are of divine appointment, and 
have their peculiar work. That work is never in de- 
rogation of, but always collateral and auxiliary to 
the established ministry ; being designed merely to 
supplement its officers and labors, and thus be tribu- 
tary to the conversion of souls, the spread of the 
Redeemer's kingdom, and the glory of his name.'* 

'' O Lord, Revive Thy Work ! *' 



CHAPTER VII. 

CHILD-PIETY AND PROFESSION. 

/^^HILDREN have formed a large proportion of 
professed converts in the more recent revivals. 
Some look with favor upon this, and some with dis- 
favor ; but it certainly gives increased interest to the 
subject of child-piety and profession. 

We take up the two points separately ; and first 
ask as to the possibility of child-piety. Happily 
there is not ground for much discussion here. The 
very words of our Lord, "' Suffer little children to 
come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is 
the kingdom of heaven/' make it sure that there 
is nothing on the part of God preventing the conver- 
sion of young children. 

Is there anything on their part ? We ask what 
is there in the gospel, and in the mind of the child, 
to prevent the apprehension of all saving truth ? 
The gospel is comprehended in these two facts : — 
man a sinner^ and Christ a Saviour, Undoubtedly 
poor Jack, of whom we have read, had the whole of 
the gospel when he could repeat (and this was all 
he knew) : 

" I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all, 
And Jesus Christ is my all and. in all." 

He who knows as much as that has the core of all 



CHILD-FIE TY AND PROFESSION. 1 69 

Scripture. And cannot a child comprehend these 
two simple facts ? When an infant it understands 
what it is to disobey and displease a parent, and to 
feel sorry for it. Is it difficult to impart the idea that 
God may be disobeyed, and what it is to h^ penitent 
in view of it ? A very young child may understand 
this. 

And why not, also, that Christ is a Saviour ? 
Children know much more than they are often sup- 
posed to knQW. Dr. Archibald Alexander said that 
2X four years of age he was interested to know the 
meaning of the words anathema^ maranatha^ as a 
minister was preaching on the text containing them ; 
and that he watched for the explanation, and under- 
stood it, and never forgot it. 

Besides the fact of the extreme simplicity of what 
is essentially the gospel, we add this thought ; that 
Sunday school instruction, and Sunday school sing- 
ing, and children's books and papers, have rendered 
intelligent the masses of children upon religious sub- 
jects to a very great extent ; and that therefore 
they cannot be considered so ignorant of scripture 
truth as to prevent their conversion. No : the 
blessed Spirit can find trutli enough to work with, in 
almost any child's mind. The prophecy is becoming 
fulfilled, that '' There shall be no more an infant of 
days (in respect to knowledge) for the child shall die 
an hundred years old.'' 

Advancing a step, we remark that childhood is 
the most hopeful period of conversion. Consider 
this circumstance, which is a decided advantage on 
8 



I/O 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



the part of the child over the aduh ; viz., that it has 
aheady many of the qualities that enter largely into 
the religious character and life. Our Lord meant at 
least this when he said, " Of such is the kingdom of 
heaven,'' for it is added, " Whosoever shall not re- 
ceive the kingdom of God as a little child^ shall not 
enter therein." And he once took to him a child to 
illustrate to his followers some of the qualities which 
they must possess. 

These are readily seen. For instance, love is a 
marked feature in childhood ; and so are hiunility^ 
(or the want of ambition,) and teachableness., and sub^ 
mission to authority^ and hope., and faith. And these 
are features of true piety. Now, it is a gain to pos- 
sess beforehand these features, though yet unsancti- 
fied. Other things being equal, a child will more 
readily beHeve than an adult ; because, as we say, it 
is more natural to it. 

A child will also be more ready to submit to 
God's authority because used to submit to parental 
authority ; and the naturally loving and less selfish 
heart, will be more ready to attach itself to the dear 
Parent in heaven, than will be the heart of an adult. 
And so we might speak of other qualities. This 
being the case, if there is anything in being y?^ sub- 
jects for conversion, we should conclude that chil- 
dren are such. 

And this is still more apparent, if we remember 
the extreme susceptibility of childhood. 

Human nature is then more plastic and ductile. 
It is yielding and shapeable. God may bless human 



CHILD-PIETY AND PROFESSION, 



I/I 



efforts to the conversion of the most hardened : with 
him nothing is impossible. But how much more 
reasonable to expect success in our trying to shape 
impressible childhood and youth into * Vessels of 
honor/' than in attempting it with those who have 
long been burnt and bronzed in the fires of passion 
and sin. 

The difference between childhood and age, in 
regard to susceptibility, is like that between a page 
of type just set up, and a page that has been stereo- 
typed. In the former case it is easy to make altera- 
tions; but how difficult in the latter. You may 
nearly as well break up the plate altogether as to at- 
tempt to alter it much. Or, the difference is like that 
between a young tree, and that same tree after many 
years' growth. The weight of a sparrow had bowed 
it when a sapling ; now the strength of a Hercules 
cannot bend it. Or, the difference is like that 
between a wooden sailing craft and an iron-clad. 
The one is easily pierced, the other resists the heavi- 
est shots. 

Rev. Dr. Burchard (whose letter is appended to 
this chapter) says on this matter of child-nature, 
" The skillful husbandman selects first a good farm, 
the freest from rocks and noxious roots, a deep, 
loamy soil, not overworked, susceptible, under proper 
culture, of the largest fruitage and abundance. Now 
our position is, that in all this wide extended and 
various field — '' the ivorld,'' — ^the best soil, the easi- 
est cultivated, yielding the largest increase, is 
the heart of childhood. This is confirmed by the 



1/2 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



parable of the sower, in which some seed is repre- 
sented as falling by the wayside, some upon stony 
places where there was not much earth, and some 
among thorns, and the result was there was no fruit. 
Whatever classes of persons may there be represented 
— the gay, the frivolous, the hardened, the overbur- 
dened with care, — surely this part of the parable is 
not intended to represent the child's character or 
any obstacles therein to the growth of the spiritual 
seed. Who so free as children from temptation, 
from the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of rich- 
es, and all those hurtful influences which so effect- 
ually counteract the impressions of truth upon the 
mind ? Their ardent sensibilities, their sensitive con- 
science unused to the process of moral hardening, 
render them preeminently the good ground of the 
parable ; and here, if any where, may we look for an 
hundred fold increase. Childhood is therefore pecu- 
liarly and emphatically the age designed by God in 
the constitution and condition of things, designated 
by the Scriptures, and demonstrated by experience, 
as the time for the successful application of the 
means of grace ; the spring time, the time for sowing 
the good seed of the word, the time which, above 
all others, invites effort, and gives promise of suc- 
cess.'' 

We conclude, then, that little children can be con- 
verted, and that many circumstances strongly favor it. 
Scripture and analogy justify this belief. It requires 
no more intellect to love Christ, than to hate him ; to 
please than to displease him, to serve than to disobey 



CHILD-PIETY AND PROFESSION, 



173 



him. As a little child can take its spoonful of milk, 
and be sustained by it as surely as the man is sustain- 
ed by his strong meat, so the little child with its hand 
of faith can take as firm a hold of Christ, and get life 
and salvation from him as surely as an aged Christian. 
If old enough to sin^ and be punished for it, why 
not old enough to repent and be saved ? If old 
enough to hear the parental voice, why not GoeTs 
voice ? 

We have seen little lambs In the fields run toward 
the keeper at his call ; perhaps the quickest to catch 
his voice and be at his side. And 

" When Israers gentle Shepherd stands, 
With all-engaging charms, 
And sweetly calls the tender Iambs 
To fold them in his arms," 

shall we doubt whether they are old enough to 
know his voice? Shall we be suspicious of their 
coming ? Shall we imitate those in Christ's day who 
forbade them to come? Let it not be. It is safe to 
follow in Christ's steps ; and he said, "■ Suffer them 
to come and forbid them not.*' 

We come to another point, — the fact of child- 
piety. Very little children do come to Christ. It is 
commonly held that Jeremiah and John the Baptist, 
who are spoken of in Scripture as sanctified from their 
birth, were early the children of grace : and also that 
King Josiah at the age of eight years (when he be- 
gan to reign) feared the Lord. There certainly 
were children amon^; Christ's followers when on 



174 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



earth. Take this scene in his life : *' When the 
chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things 
that he did, and the children crying in the temple, 
and saying, Hosanna to the* Son of David, they 
were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest 
thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them 
Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of 
babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise ? '' 
And then take this record concerning him : '' In that 
hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, 
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast 
hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast 
revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so 
it seemed good in thy sight.'* Were there not then 
some '^ babes/' i. e., very small children among those 
that received his gospel ? 

The early Christians embraced pious children. 
Thus Polycarp, martyred at the age of 95, de- 
clares he had served God 86 years ; showing that he 
was converted at the age of nine years. And Justin 
Martyr testifies of many of both sexes "' who had 
been made disciples to Christ from their infancy, 
and continued uncorrupted all their lives.'' 

And coming to more modern times, it were easy 
to name many eminent servants of God who began 
to serve him in childhood : as Baxter for instance, 
who said he did not recollect the time when he did 
not love God and all that was good. Matthew 
Henry was converted, before 1 1 years old, Mrs. Isabel 
Graham at 10 ; President Edwards probably at 7, 



CHILD-PIETY AND PROFESSION. 



175 



Dr. Watts at 9, Bishop Hall and Robert Hall at 
II or 12. 

Pres. Edwards, in his " narrative'' says, '^ It has 
heretofore been looked on as a strange thing, when 
any have seemed to be savingly wrought upon, and 
remarkably changed in their childhood ; but now, I 
suppose, near thirty were to appearance so wrought 
upon between ten and fourteen years of age, and two 
between nine and ten, and one about four years of 
age ; and because, I suppose, this last will be with 
most difficulty believed, I shall hereafter give a par- 
ticular account of it. The influences of God's Spirit 
have also been very remarkable on children in some 
other places, particularly at Sunderland and South 
Hadley, and the west part of Suffield. There are 
several families in this town that are all hopefully 
pious ; yea, there are several numerous famihes, in 
which, I think, we have reason to hope that all the 
children are truly godly, and that most of them have 
lately become so." He also remarks '^ God in this 
work has shown a remarkable regard to little chil- 
dren ; never was there such a glorious work amongst 
persons in their childhood, as has been of late in 
New England ; he has been pleased in a wonderful 
manner to perfect praise out of the mouths of babes 
and sucklings; and many of them have more of that 
knowledge and wisdom that pleases him, and renders 
their religious worship acceptable, than many of the 
great and learned men of the world.'' 

To these utterances of Mr. Edwards, we add other 
testimony as to child-piety and revivals. 



176 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

Dr. Griffin wrote the following as to a revival in 
Newark, N. J., under his ministry: ^'The appearance 
was as if a collection of waters long suspended over 
the town had fallen at once, and deluged the whole 
place. One Sabbath after the second service, when 
I had catechized and dismissed the Httle children, 
they gathered around me weeping and inquiring 
what they should do. I know not but a hundred 
were in tears at once. The scene was as affecting as 
it was unexpected.*' 

Dr. Archibald Maclay, of New York, thus speaks 
of the converts under his ministry : ^^ Many of those 
who embraced the gospel at this period were young. 
One was only seven years old. She came to me in 
my study in great distress, asking if God could save 
her, for she had lived seven years without loving. 
him, and all the time sinning against him. She 
united with the church, and has lived to train up a 
large family in the fear of God. Moreover, the 
great body of those who made a profession of religion 
have continued in the faith, rooted and grounded in 
love, and have not been moved away from the hope 
of the gospel." 

One Mr. Halley, in 1753, wrote thus of a work in 
Scotland : *^ Thirteen societies for prayer have been 
recently instituted, and a new one is about to be es- 
tablished. I cannot express how much I am 
charmed with the young people. Oh, to hear the 
young lambs crying after the great Shepherd, — to 
hear them pouring out their souls with such fervor, 
with such beautiful expressions, with such copious- 



CHILD-PJETY AND PROFESSION. 



177 



ness and fulness, did not only strike me with admi- 
ration, but melted me into tears. I wished in my 
heart that all contradictors, gainsayers, and blasphe- 
mers of this work of God had been where I was that 
night." 

The writer loves to recall the case of a little girl 
of nine years who had a very distinct perception of 
sin, ^nd pleaded with God, in her room by herself, 
the promise, ** Those that seek me early shall find 
me ; '* and then reassured her soul, saying " Shall 
find me ! It does not say, (she said) may find me, 
but shall ^XiA me ; '' and finding the Saviour, truly, 
she became a bright ornament in the church. A 
child in Bridgeport, Conn., of some eight years, was 
asked why she thought she was a Christian ; and she 
answered, *^ Because I believe all the words of the 
Lord Jesus.'' Could any person have given a better 
answer ? 

A sick girl of ten years of age was asked, ^^ Is the 
matter settled between you and God ?'' 

'*0h! yes,'* was the calm reply. 

" How did you get it settled ?'* 

*^ Why, the Lord Jesus Clirist settled it for 7ne'* 

" And when did he do that for you ? " 

" When he died on the cross for my sins? " 

*^ How long is it since you knew this blessed and 
consoling fact ?" 

''About twelve months ago.*' 

'' How did you know that the work which Christ 
accomplished on the cross for sinners was done for 
you ? " 

8* 



178 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



She at once replied, " I read it in the Bibky and 
believed that it was just so!' 

Who could ask for a better experience than 
this ? 

An eminent Scotch minister (Dr. W. L. Alex- 
ander) had doubted the genuineness of the great work 
going on near him among children, until he was once 
in a prayer-room where many little ones were pray- 
ing ; and he says of that scene : '^I stood listening and 
the tears rushed down my cheeks as I listened. I 
could not help it, because I felt that I was reproved 
that I had doubted the work of God in that particu- 
lar, and now he had brought me face to face with the 
work itself.'* 

Would any one w^ant a better Christian experi- 
ence than this from a little child in Boston : ^^ I lis- 
tened to the sermon and felt more sorry and more 
sorry for my sins ; and a kind lady took me by the 
hand, and showed me the way to the blessed Saviour, 
and then, when I got home, I went straight to my 
bed-side, and prayed to God to give me a new heart 
and take Satan out of my heart, and to make me his 
child. And then I went and asked my mother's and 
father's forgiveness ; and then I felt better. And 
then I prayed to God again, and then went to sleep. 
The next day I felt so happy that I felt like singing 
all the time. And now I feel as if I had given my 
heart to Christ." 

If it be asked how early should we expect the 
conversion of our children ? We answer, just as 
early as we begin to labor and pray in earnest for it. 



CHILD-PIETY AND PROFESSION, 



179 



And should parents and Sunday school teachers do 
their full duty to children in this regard, adult con- 
version would become the rare exception, and early 
conversion the rule. There is a vast amount of 
skepticism on this subject among the churches, 
which must be removed before this world is given to 
Christ. As McCheyne has said, '' Jesus has reason 
to complain of us that he can do no mighty works 
in our Sunday schools because of our unbelief.*' 

Approaching now the other part of our topic, 
i^Adi-profession^ we are aware that it is contro- 
verted ground, A hesitancy to receive quite young 
children to a public profession of religion is very 
general in all the churches. 

In his '^ Letters to a Son in the Ministry," Dr. 
Heman Humphrey gives endorsement to this con- 
servative view, as follows : 

'' You do not tell me whether the revival in L — 
embraces children or not. This is not unfrequently 
the case, and I have no doubt that many are renewed 
at a very tender age. But if there is any considera- 
ble number of the children of your congregation 
excited to make the great inquiry, *Svhat shall we 
do,** I am sure, that while you rejoice to see them 
flocking around for advice, it will occasion you a great 
deal of solicitude. You will find it extremely diffi- 
cult to determine how much of the interest which 
they manifest arises from mere sympathy, and how 
much from the striving of the Spirit — how much 
they talk and exhort and pray from imitation, and 



I So HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

how much from the impulse of religious feeling. 
You will often be astonished at the apparent maturity 
of their views and genuineness of their experience, 
and will probably look upon that many more of them 
as truly converted, than really are. A few months 
will convince you that much of what appeared so 
promising was ^' the morning cloud and the early 
dew.'' Some however, will, it is to be hoped, give 
increasing evidence of a real change of heart, and 
the question of receiving them into the church will 
come up at no distant day. They may wish very 
much to be admitted, and their friends perhaps will 
urge it ; but I hope you will take time and look at 
the question in all its bearings, before you give your 
consent. A great many young people in some parts 
of the land are now in the churches, who are quite 
sure they never had any religion, and who exceed- 
ingly regret that they were encouraged, or allowed 
to make a profession at so early an age. It appears 
to me the cases are very rare, in which children 
should be received nnd^r fourteen ; and that it is not 
safe to admit many, till they are still older. The 
true way, I cannot help thinking is, to form them 
into a class of catechumens^ under such a course of 
religious instruction, as is best calculated to imbue 
their minds with the essential doctrines of the 
gospel ; to make them acquainted with the nature 
and evidences of true piety, and to prepare them for 
admission to the Lord's table, after a suitable proba- 
tion. Precisely how long they should be kept in the 
class of catechumens, I am not prepared to say. 



CHILD-PIETY AND PROFESSION, igj 

Doubtless some may be admitted into the church 
eariier than others ; but I think there is more danger 
of moving too fast, than too slow." 

We fail to see, however, why there is not here a 
false distinction between what is, after all, but a 
question of evidence. Why be so cautious as to the 
testimony of a child? Is it merely because the 
subject is a child? That were folly indeed. Since, 
then, it is a question of validity of evidence, why 
not frankly weigh the testimony and act accordingly? 
Why give credence to the experience of the adult 
and reject or refuse to accept, the experience of the 
child ? 

Certainly there is no foundation for this hesitancy 
in the Scriptures ; and we cannot see why it is not 
unfairness to the child, and every way unwise. If a 
babe ever needs the mother^s breast, it is just after it 
is born : and the same must be true of spiritual 
.babes. And if one class more than another needs 
the church's embrace, it is those young in years. 
How unphilosophical (as well as unfair) to keep the 
child outside the church till piety be proved^ when 
this is not exacted of adults ? 

We are told that the church of which Dr. Cox 
was pastor for a long time, in Brooklyn, once had a 
rule prohibiting children under fourteen years of age 
from becoming members of the church. At that 
time a very intelligent girl asked for admittance. 
The session did not wish to tell her that they could 
not receive her. They made excuses and put her 
off from time to time, until at last the pastor was 



1 82 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

obliged to tell her that she could not be received. 
She was familiarly acquainted with Dr. Cox, and for 
a moment she laid her head upon his shoulder and 
wept. Then lifting her eyes pathetically to his, she 
said, "^ Dr. Cox, Jesus Christ would not treat me so; 
he says, ^ suffer little children to come unto me.* *' 
Upon which the pastor exclaimed, '* Away with all 
church rules that conflict with Christ's word.*' 

It is related that a certain deacon in Maine 
would not let his converted boy join the church 
because he was '^ too young.'' ^' Wait," said he, *' till 
you show that you are pious.'' The minister, who 
did not share in his views, found the deacon one 
cold spring day toward night, getting the sheep and 
lambs into the barn. " Why do you do this ? '' he 
asked. '* Because I fear these lambs will freeze to 
death if I leave them out over night," replied the 
deacon. *' But," said the minister, '^ would it not be 
as well to leave them out till they show that they 
are going to live, and then get them in?" The 
deacon took the hint ; and said, '' I shan't prevent 
my boy's joining the church any longer! " It were 
well for all objectors to ponder and apply the narra- 
tive. 

We talk to our children in the family and Sunday- 
school about Jesus' loving little children, and being 
ready to receive them. We urge them to begin now 
to love him, repeating ^' I love them that love me, 
and those that seek me early shall find me.'' We 
tell them they may die early, and that that is a 
reason why they should repent now. And we pray 



CHILD-PIETY AND PROFESSION. 183 

for their immediate conversion, and teach them to 
sing of the loveHness of infant piety. But when 
they tell us they love Jesus, and would like to 
profess their love for him, we hesitate, and advise 
caution and delay. Even where parents are com- 
pelled to acknowledge a great change in the child, 
and see better evidence of piety (as they admit) in 
the child than in themselves, they oppose the idea of 
joining the church. 

Alas, for such inconsistency. Do we not thus 
show that our prayers for their speedy conversion 
were faithless ? Do we not depreciate and undo our 
own teaching? And do we not cast discredit upon 
the work of the Holy Spirit, and discourage all 
efforts on the part of the child to follow the divine 
requirements? 

It IS astonishing that the teaching and the prac- 
tice of Christians here are so at variance. Why not 
cease this perpetual talk about child-piety, or else 
accept its consequences? If we believe what we 
preach, namely, that the children ought to love 
Christ, and should now, at once, give their little 
hearts to him, (the staple of Sunday school addresses) 
then why not acknowledge child-piety where it is 
apparent? Why try to lead the children to Christ, 
and then shut the door of Christ's church against 
them? Why in our homes and sanctuaries entreat 
them with tears and loving words to be Christians 
noiv^ and then doubtfully shake the head when the 
luestion comes of their admission to the commu- 
lion? 



l84 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

Many a parent perusing these lines can remem- 
ber how a dear child spoke of having found Jesus. 
You heard the simple tale with tearful interest, and 
said, '* I am glad of it, darling/' You gave thanks 
for it in the closet ; and felt unspeakable joy at see- 
ing the new sweetness of temper in the child, the in- 
creased dutifulness, and lovingness, and prayerful- 
ness. 

Then the child said, ^* May I join the church?'' 
You said, "• Wait a little, my dear." The child sub- 
mitted (though with disappointment) to your supe- 
rior judgment. 

Months passed. Again the ^child said, '* What 
do you think about my joining the church now? I 
would like to do it if you approve of it." You said, 
" You know you are very young ; hadn't you better 
wait a little longer?" So it passed on. 

At length, years after, (if God did not take the 
precious one to himself,) the minister, upon exhort- 
ing this youth to become pious, finds traces of exist- 
ing godliness. ^^ How long have you felt so?" 
** Why, for years.'' The pastor calls to see you as 
to the child's profession. You consent, and the child 
is taken into the church. But oh, what a loss 
has already been experienced ! Darkness and doubt 
gathered upon the young mind, from the fact that 
you seemed to question the reality of the change. • 
Perplexity arose on a thousand points. Coldness en- 
sued, and wanderings in evil ways ; until at last in 
another work of grace, that poor thing again through 
fearful struggles came into the light ; — to regret till 



CHILD-PIETY AND PROFESSION, 183 

a dying day that there had not been experienced dur 
ing those years the warm sympathies of the church 
instead of the chiUing influences of the world. 

This is by no means an overdrawn or unusual 
case. There are thousands of Christians who might 
have sat for the picture. And in this light how much 
is the practice under remark to be deprecated. 

A minister of much observation says : ''• I have 
not a doubt that thousands of child-converts have 
gone through life and never joined any church, but 
lingered along, full of doubts and fears and darkness, 
and in this way have spent their days, and gone to 
the grave without the comforts or the usefulness 
which they might have enjoyed, simply because the 
church, in her folly, suffered them to wait outside of 
her pale, to see whether they would grow and thrive 
without those ordinances which Jesus Christ estab- 
lished particularly for their benefit. Why thus turn 
them out alone upon the cold mountains, among the 
wild beasts, to starve or perish, to see whether they 
are alive or not ? This whole system is as unphilo- 
sophical as it is unscriptural. It is almost as absurd 
as it would be to throw out a young child into the 
street, to see whether it will live ; — to say, " If it 
lives and promises to be a healthy child, we will take 
care of it ; *' when that is the very time it wants 
nursing. Should the church throw her new-born 
children out to the winds, and say, if they live there, 
let them be raised ; but if they die, they ought to 
die. We earnestly pray that the time may speedily 
come when such folly shall cease.*' 



1 86 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

Abundant testimony could here be introduced as 
to the worthy Hves of professors received into fellow- 
ship in childhood. An able minister once affirmed in 
public, that in his ministry he had admitted three or 
four hundred persons to the church. Of these, one 
hundred were children; and he believed that fewer 
mistakes had been made in admitting them than in 
the case of the adults. 

Another experienced pastor says, *^ I may safely 
say that the most satisfactory cases have been 
those of children and quite young persons.** '' For 
myself," says another pastor, '' I have reason to thank 
God for permitting me the joy of seeing scores of 
children coming to Christ. No more satisfactory 
cases of conversion have ever come under my obser- 
vation than among children." 

And another says, " I here record the gratifying 
fact, that under my pastorate I do not recall an in- 
stance where the church has been compelled to ex- 
clude a member received in early childhood ; while 
among the most active and useful persons in my 
charge are many who came in as children." Mr. 
Spurgeon, also, lately used almost these very words. 
These are but samples of many that might be given. 

The writer recently addressed a communication 
to several distinguished ministers of different denom- 
inations, requesting their views upon three points : 
I. ThQfact of child-piety as a thing to be expected 
and labored iox. 2. The wisdom of early prof ession ; 
especially the results under their own observation. 
3. Is the prevailing hesitancy as to receiving young 



CHILD-PIETY AND PROFESSION, 187 

but apparently pious children to a public profession, 
to be approved and encouraged, or otherwise ? 

The following responses will be read with interest : 

From Rev. Dr, Goodwin^ Chicago^ III. 

My Dear Brother: 

I am only too glad to note, in a most hasty way, 
such replies to the inquiries you raise as my ex- 
perience and observation suggest. 

1. I have no doubt whatsoever as to the possi- 
bility of early piety, and none as to the duty, and 
that a most imperative one, of laboring to secure such 
piety in the very earliest years. 

And I believe further, that one of the grand 
mistakes made in many of our churches, and almost 
generally throughout the range of our Protestant 
faith, is that we forget that, ^' of such is the king- 
dom of heaven.'* We perpetually lay out all our 
strength, marshal all bur arguments, and multiply all 
our agencies to reach adults, and bring them to a 
knowledge of the truth ; while the real development 
and exquisite power of the gospel does not lie that 
way, but lies ratKer in the '^ nurture and admonition 
of the Lord." 

2. I believe fully in the wisdom of early profes- 
sions'. — such being always made upon evidence 
satisfactory to parents (who believe of course, in the 
piety of children — as alas ! how many do not). I 
would not encourage such professions, in any case, 
without some one — either a parent, or warm, earnest 
disciple in the household, or faithful teacher — to 



l88 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS, 

watch over the child, and lead it lovingly in the way. 
My experience is— and I have received a large num- 
ber — that such young persons give as clear and 
satisfactory proof of the leadings of the Spirit, and 
just as truly and consistently honor their professions, 
as do older disciples. Indeed, as concerns pliability, 
readiness to receive and to put in practice Christian 
instruction, sincerity of motive, simplicity and con- 
scientiousness of conduct — I have always found the 
youth, the children, far in advance of older people. 

I think they ought not to be received, (as is so 
often done,) and then all instruction or attempts to 
shape their character be dropped. There is clear 
need that catechetical classes, children's meetings or 
circles, or some method, by either the pastor or a 
competent Sabbath school superintendent — or better 
still, a wise and loving woman — shall help them to 
know Christ, and to put hhn on in daily life, and 
grow up into him in all things. 

3. As I have intimated, I strongly disapprove 
the existing hesitancy on the part of many as to 
receiving children into the church. If the church 
is Christ's school, then why leave the children to 
pick up Christ's teaching by such chance-instruction 
as they may happen upon ? If the church is God's 
family, and the children have any relation to it, why 
keep them out when they need most nursing? 
Must they prove that they can go alone without 
help before we are ready to give them the atmos- 
phere and encouragement of the household ? I am 



CIIILD'P/ETY AND PROFESSION. 



189 



glad you have taken so good a work in hand ; it is 
greatly needed. 

Very truly yours, 

E. P. Goodwin. 

From Dr. Stephen H, Tyng, New York. 

Rev. and Dear Brother : 

My. intense occupations have prevented a due 
notice of your communication and request. I have 
not time to go into any discussion or exposition of 
views upon the general subject of your note, in theory. 
It has been my constant practice to make no objec- 
tion to age in a Christian profession, if I am satisfied 
on the two points of actual personal conversion and 
intelligence. When the Spirit of God anoints a soul 
to Christ, and gives his witness of personal ability 
to love and serve the Saviour, in reality and truth, 
who am I that my unbelieving fears should be inter- 
posed as an obstacle to his work and will ? I have 
received a profession at eight years of age ; I think 
no instance has occurred to me younger,. 

Yours fraternally, 

Stephen H. Tyng. 

From Rev, Dr, Webb^ Boston, Mass. 

My Dear Brother: 

You wish in reply to your questions, I suppose, 
not the most, but the least I can say. My belief is 
that piety in the children of Christian parents is to be 
expected. 

My experience does not disappoint my theory. 



190 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



And children giving evidence of piety must be 
taken into the church. 

But as to the evidence, I wait for it to be devel- 
oped somewhat. The Christian family is a sort of room 
in the church, and the child is not going to lose his 
regeneration there. I make the time between the 
beginning of evidence, and the entrance into the 
church, longer in case of children than of adults. I 
have weekly meetings, and all hopeful converts are 
formed into a kind of class ; and I instruct them in our 
articles of faith — in experimental religion, etc. And 
from this class I select, from time to time, such as 
seem to me qualified to take upon them church 
responsibilities. 

With all our machinery, the great want is, on 
the part of those who come into our churches, old and 
young, a better, deeper understanding of the truths 
and doctrines of religion, and a deeper, surer heart- 
acquaintance, or experience. 

In case of an adult, having been subjected to the 
influences and temptations of the world, he knows 
himself better ; and uniting with the church is a 
change of relations, and an assumption of responsi- 
bilities, that he will ponder and feel. 

A child in a Christian family, however, comes 
along without any such break or turn, and therefore is 
not likely to ponder the matter so sharply. 

But children well instructed by* the minister, 
encouraged to open all their mind to him, tell their 
temptations and purposes, and ask questions, — chil- 



CHILD-PIETY AND PROFESSION. 



191 



dren thus developed and matured under my eye, — I 
receive joyfully. 

I hope this forthcoming book will be as good 
and timely as ^' Primitive Piety Revived.'* 

Yours cordially, 

E. B. Webb. 

From Rev. Dr, Richard Fuller^ Baltimore^ Md, 

Dear Brother : 

I comply with your request the more readily, be- 
cause I once thought I was doing God's service in 
opposing the reception of young children into the 
church, and was most thoroughly and touchingly cor- 
rected by my own first-born. At the age of ten she 
told me of her conversion, and desired baptism. 
*' My darhng child," I repHed, ^* you are young and 
your gay relatives and companions may lead you into 
the world.'' "' My father," she said, " am I too 
young to love you and my mother ? and ought I not 
to love Jesus before all and above all ? " — Since then 
I have rejoiced to welcome children to him who 
says, ^^ Suffer little children to come unto me and for- 
bid them not," — thus rebuking in his apostles the 
very prejudice we now encounter. I may add, that 
the death-bed of this precious daughter, at the age 
of twenty-three, was so triumphant a termination to 
a life of purity and love, that Dr. Wayland wrote to 
ask me if angels really appeared in her room. Never 
have I known or read of such bodily suffering, but of 
such exultation in Jesus. — Forgive a father's feel- 
ings. 



192 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



As to the questions you propose, I answer thus, 
after much experience and prayer: 

First. We beheve in a change of heart by which 
.*' a child of wrath'* becomes '* a child of God/' Let 
us hold fast to this, especially at this day. If there 
be conversion, the earlier the better. Paul speaks 
with a holy envy of those who ^' were in Christ be- 
fore'* him. To say nothing of the larger term for 
service, how many painful conflicts are we spared by 
conversion in our first years ! 

Second. For worlds we would do nothing which 
Jesus has not commanded ; but for worlds we would 
not omit anything which he has commanded. And 
a convert ought to be at once baptized : — it is the 
voluntary obedience of an intelligent believer. 

But as to the reality of the change, the church 
must decide each case as it does in the examination 
of grown persons ; with this difference, that the testi- 
mony of the parents ought to go very far in deciding 
the question, and the opinion of the Sabbath school 
teacher ought to be almost conclusive. 

Sunday schools have changed almost wholly the 
economy of churches belonging to a former age ; but 
teachers have yet to feel that their one great business 
is the conversion of their scholars. When we con- 
sider this advantage in dealing with docile minds, 
and tender consciences, and susceptible hearts, it is a 
lamentation, and should be for a lamentation, that 
more children are not savingly united to Jesus. 
Affectionately in the Redemeer, 

R. Fuller. 



CHILD-PIETY AND PROFESSION. 



193 



From Rev. Dr, Burchard^ New York. 

My Dear Brother : 

The early conversion of children is a subject of 
deep and growing interest. Doubt and indifference 
have lamentably characterized the past. Christians, 
from the early disciples downward, seem to have 
discouraged any attempt to bring young children to 
Christ. Even the most earnest of them have not la- 
bored in faith for their conversion. While they have 
sowed the seed on the mellowest and best soil, they 
have felt that they must w^ait through many long 
years, before there could be any real germination, 
any positive fruit. 

With this prevailing view, the conversion of 
children has been infrequent, and if occasionally 
real^ regarded rather as a marvel than the natural 
effect of God's fidelity and gracious promise to his 
believing people ; and if such converted children 
were finally received to the communion of the 
church, it was usually after the test and tutelage of 
years. 

This, however, amid the culminating light of 
modern revivals, and a better interpretation of Script- 
ure, has come to be regarded as a most dangerous 
heresy. The efforts and prayers of Christians are 
now turned to the young, as the most hopeful field, 
as furnishing the best soil for the seed which is to 
produce an hundred fold. 

Some of the most active and spiritual members 
of our churches were regenerated in childhood, 
9 



194 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



One of the most useful and prominent pastors in the 
city of New York, was received into full fellowship 
of the church at the early age of eight years, and 
was hopefully converted at a much earlier period. 
The intimation of Paul is that Timothy became the 
subject of grace, and a student of Scripture, when 
quite a youth. 

During a ministry of more than thirty years, 
I have received a goodly number to the church 
between the ages of nine and twelve, and they 
** have run well/' giving good evidence that the work 
was thorough, and that they were born of the 
Spirit. 

Why should not such cases of conversion be 
more frequent, and more generally expected ? Why 
should the sunniest portion of Hfe be given to the 
service of Satan ? Why should sin be suffered to 
propagate itself? Why should the seeds of the 
apostasy be permitted even to germinate, much less 
to produce a full harvest of vice and crime ? Why 
should not the proclivities to evil in childhood be 
counteracted by those moral forces implied and 
involved in the gospel plan of mercy? In the 
atoning blood of Jesus, there is the needed element 
for changing the original character of the sqil, and 
making it good ground for the reception of the 
spiritual seed-grain. We have in the ^^ exceedingly 
rich and precious promises,*' and in the influences 
of the divine Spirit, the glorious sunshine and 
showers, so essential to healthy germination, efflores- 
cence and fruitage. 



CHILD-PIE TY AND PROFESSION, 195 

If, then, children may be converted, why should 
they not be received to the care and fellowship of 
the church ? The church is God's seminary of in- 
struction and preparation for the higher honors of 
heaven ; and should she not take under her tutelage 
the younger disciples, the very ** babes in Christ,' ' 
who more than any other, need the *' sincere milk of 
the word,'' as well as the tender care of our com- 
mon mother, the church? They are members with 
us of the household of faith, and they should not be 
exiled from the family board or disinherited of their 
birthright. They are lambs of Christ's flock, and his 
charge to Peter is still imperative, *^ Feed my lambs." 
They, more than all others, need protection from 
the storms of this world, the pitfalls and perils of 
the wilderness, the fury of wild beasts ; and to this 
end, they must be gathered into the fold, under the 
care of the good Shepherd. The idea of keeping 
them out of the church in their weakness and help- 
lessness, when they most need shelter and protection, 
is simply absurd. 

In my early Christian life, I witnessed a scene which 
opened a full fountain of sympathy for the young and 
tender lambs of the flock. Little Martha, the grand- 
daughter of the officiating clergyman, appeared before 
the proper officers of the church to be examined for 
admission to its communion. She was examined 
thoroughly, and the examination showed satisfactorily 
that she had met with a change ; and yet the officers, 
said, *' Martha, you are very young, and had better 
wait till you are older before you make a public pro- 



196 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



fession of religion/' She did wait patiently for three 
months, and then appeared again, telling the same 
sweet story of Jesus and his love ; and yet she was 
advised to wait. Again she appeared, hopeful 
now, but was again disappointed. And when a 
whole year had passed, and she was again advised to 
wait, her breaking heart sobbed out, '^Oh ! grandpapa, 
how old must I be before I may love Jesus, and sit 
with him at his table?" The old prejudice gave 
way. She was received, and became an ornament 
and a blessing to the'church. 

Whom Christ has received, however young, the 
church may not reject ; and those who are fitted for 
his church above are surely fitted for its fellowship 
here. 

Yours in the gospel, 

S. D. BURCHARD. 

In view of the foregoing, let all join the more 
heartily in the prayer of Dr. Bonar, of Scotland : 
^'Lord, sharpen our sickles when we go to reap 
thy harvest among the young. For we have heard 
thee say, " Have ye not read. Out of the mouths 
of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise ? '' 

" O Lord, Revive Thy Work ! '' 



CHAPTER VIIL 

INDICATIONS OF A REVIVAL. 

"DEFORE a copious rain we may expect the "little 
cloud like a man's hand/' 

A determination to have, by God's help, a better 
state of things, must be set down as a first indication 
of a revival. We must desire a thing before having 
it. It is when we stir up ourselves to call on God, 
and to put forth effort, because we are tired of the 
present and intent on improvement, that the blessing 
may be expected, — not before. Said an eminent 
divine, '* I never had a revival under my ministry 
without laboring for it, and expecting it.' ' 

Distress of soul over prevailing desolations must 
accompany this desire for improvement. ^^ As soon 
as Zion travailed she brought forth children," said 
the Prophet Isaiah. Soul-savers are not ignorant of 
birth-pangs. This is imaged to us in our Master's 
character. He is the great Saviour of men ; but 
before he could save others, he learned in their flesh to 
sympathize with them. He wept over Jerusalem. 
He sweat great drops of blood in Gethsemane. He 
was, and is, a high priest who is touched with the 
feeling of our infirmities. As the Captain of our sal- 
vation, in bringing many sons unto glory, he w\as 



198 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



made perfect by sufferings. Even he went not forth 
to rescue the perishing until he had spent nights in 
intercessory prayer, and uttered strong crying and 
tears for their salvation. 

We have heard Mr. Earle urge God's people to 
go down into Gethsemane with Christ ; and insist, 
most tenderly, that they must feel something of these 
agonies before souls would be brought in ; and our 
own pastoral experience is in the same direction. 
We well remember the mountain weight more than 
once pressing down on the soul, so that the feet 
seemed to- stagger on the pavements, and sleep de- 
parted from the eyes at night time. 

The power in the hand of God for conversions 
is heart coming into contact with heart. This is 
God's battle-axe and weapon of war, in his crusade. 
He is pleased to use the yearnings, longings, and 
sympathies of Christian men, as the means of com- 
pelling the careless to think, constraining the har- 
dened to feel, and driving the unbelieving to consider. 
^' I have little confidence in elaborate speech and 
polished sentences,'' says Spurgeon, ^^ as the means 
of reaching men's hearts ; but I have great faith in 
that simple-minded Christian woman, who must have 
souls converted or she will weep her eyes out over 
them ; and in that humble Christian who prays day 
and night in secret, and then avails himself of every 
opportunity to address a loving word to sinners. 
The emotion we feel, and the affection we bear, are 
the most powerful implements of soul-winning. 



INDICATIONS OF A REVIVAL. 



199 



God the Holy. Ghost usually breaks hard hearts by 
tender hearts." 

There is a deep philosophy in this soul-yearning 
before conversions. One reason for it, doubtless, is 
that the travail qualifies for the proper taking care 
of the offspring. God does not commit his new-born 
children to people who do not care to see conversions. 
If he ever allows them to fall into such hands, they 
suffer very serious loss thereby. Who is so fit to 
encourage a new-born believer as the man who first 
anguished before the Lord for that conversion? Those 
whom you have wept over, and prayed for, you will 
be sure to love and assist. The church that never 
travailed, should God send her converts, would be 
unfit to train them. She would not know what to do 
with them. Another reason is, that God*s glory is 
thereby promoted. In our extremity we are ready to 
ascribe all to the sovereign Spirit ; and not till then 
can God help us; for he will not give his glory 
to another. 

Again: the providence <?/ (S^(^<^ sometimes indicates 
that a revival is at hand. There is a conspiring of 
events to open the way, a preparation of circum- 
stances to favor a revival, so that those who are 
looking out can see that one is at hand almost as 
plainly as if it had been revealed from heaven. 
Cases have occurred in this country, says one of 
experience, where the providential manifestations 
were so plain, that those who were careful observers 
felt no hesitation in saying that God was coming to 
pour out his Spirit. 



200 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

■ The praying meeting will improve \Y\itn a revival 
commences. The '^ two or three*' are pressed in 
spirit, and speak often to one another about it. A 
passion to see the church revived rules them. By 
degrees, individuals are drawn together by sacred 
affinity, and the prayer-meetings become very differ- 
ent. The brother who talked twenty minutes in what 
he called prayer, gives up his oration, and falls to 
pleading with tears and broken sentences ; while the 
friend who used to relate his experience, and go 
through the doctrines of grace, and call that a prayer, 
forgets that, and begins agonizing before the throne. 
And not only this, but little knots here and there 
come together in their cottages, and in their quiet 
rooms cry mightily to God. The result will be that 
the minister, even if he does not know of this feeling 
in the hearts of his people, will grow fervent himself. 
He will preach more tenderly and earnestly. 

A thirst for the preached word and a deep interest 
in it, is a revival indication. In a declension there is 
nothing resembling an appetite, a thirst for the 
word ; there is no deep, soul-penetrating, soul-subdu- 
ing interest felt in hearing it. The whole of this is 
reversed in a revived, living church. The souls of 
the people open at once to the word of God, and 
melt and bend beneath the most simple truths 
presented in the simplest scripture dress. In an 
account from the island of Arran, dated 1812, we 
read : ^' For some months after the commencement 
of the awakening, the subjects of it manifested an 
uncommon thirst after the means of grace. Both 



INDICATIONS OF A REVIVAL 201 

old and young flocked in multitudes to hear the word 
of God. The house, and the place employed for 
private meetings, were frequently so crowded that 
the people, as it were, trod one upon another. To 
travel ten or fifteen miles to hear a sermon was con- 
sidered as a very small matter.'' So, too, when the 
returning captives lingered about the ruins of Jerusa- 
lem and the temple, and the very stones of the fallen 
walls and buildings appeared to them dear as jewels, 
and even the dust in the deserted streets seemed to 
them precious, the period of prophecy was almost 
determined ; the time to rebuild Jerusalem and the 
temple was well nigh come. Thus, while a decHne 
of interest in even the external order of religion sup- 
poses commensurate spiritual declension, a quickened 
interest in that order argues spiritual revival. 

Sorrow and shame for backsliding are a symptom 
of improvement. The Scriptures are clear and ex- 
plicit on this point. '^ I will pour upon the house of 
David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the 
Spirit of grace and of supplication." And what shall 
be the fruit, — what the result of this outpouring 
of the Holy Ghost? Is it joy simply? Is it change 
of conduct and life simply? Nay, joy were but delu- 
sion in this case apart from sorrow. Change of con- 
duct were but hypocrisy without grief and shame for 
conduct past. '' I will pour upon them the Spirit of 
grace — and they shall look upon me whom they have 
pierced, ^;/<:/ tlicy shall viotirn for Idni^^ — not believe 
on him simply, but moicrn for him, — mourn for ////;/, 
for dishonors done to Jiint^ — for ignominy cast upon 
9* 



202 ' HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

hhn, — for their wicked unbelief, impenitence, and 
estrangement from God in time past. 

With this there will be mutual co7tfessionSy and 
restitutions. The command to '' confess your faults 
one to another'' is not neglected ; but where hard- 
ness and estrangement have existed, it is acknowl- 
edged, and the alienated ones beg pardon of each 
other, and the breaches are healed. 

Especially will there be a readiness to make 
amends for injury or injustice. It is a rule in the 
isles of the Hebrides, that when a man meets a stray 
sheep on the moor, he is entitled to carry it home as 
his own, and obliged to make an equivalent offering 
in the collection for the poor on the Sabbath day. 
After the commencement of the revival in the Lewis, 
says a writer, ^' many came to confess to their minis- 
ter the trouble of conscience they experienced by 
reason of having what they called a black sheep in their 
flocks — some having had them for several winters. 
The minister always directed them to make restitu- 
tion now in the appointed way ; and in one season, 
the sum of £\6 was deposited in the plate. The 
number of sheep annually lost has wonderfully di- 
minished since the commencement of the revival, 
leading to the conclusion, that the loss imputed to 
accident arose from dishonesty.*' 

Together with this will there be hearty renuncia- 
tion of sin^and a new dedication to God, If the Lord 
is near, the '^ idols** are put away, and the appeal 
has not been without response, ^* Who will conse- 
crate himself this day unto the Lord ? *' 



INDICATIONS OF A REVIVAL, 



203 



Impotunate prayer for a revivaly3,nd readiness to 
work in it, is evidence of its commencement. Some- 
times Christians are not engaged in prayer for a 
revival, not even when they are engaged generally 
in prayer. Their minds are upon something else ; 
they are praying for something else — the salvation 
of the heathen and the like — and not for a revival 
among themselves. But when they feel the want 
of a revival, they pray as if their hearts were set 
upon it, and as if they could not be denied. And 
they are willing to sacrifice for the success of the 
work. 

Hence, an immediate and earnest coining up to 
the help of the Lord against the mighty, is evidence 
of the special presence of the Spirit. Mr. Nettleton 
wrote in 1822, of his preaching in Somers, Conn., 
and seeing no such indications. He tells of the 
^' turning point'' thus: I said, " When will you take 
up the great subject of a revival in earnest? I 
alluded to what I had often been informed had been 
the state of things in this place for several years 
past. They had often imagined themselves on the 
very eve of a revival ; appearances seemed to justify 
this expectation ; but they have uniformly subsided, 
and no general revival had been witnessed ; and at 
this moment I hear the sound of something, (I 
observed.) Is it the abundance of rain ? I cannot 
tell; this awful suspense will not continue long." 
That afternoon the great question about a revival 
was graciously settled, for the people put away 
indifference and procrastination. 



204 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



Another revival indication is zeal for the conver- 
sion of others. When the Christ4ans of the Pente- 
costal church were scattered abroad in the persecu- 
tion upon the death of Stephen, we are told that 
*' they went everywhere preaching the word.'' Most 
of them, doubtless, were private Christians ; yet 
wherever they went, it seems they carried the news 
of Christ along with them. *' The love of Christ con- 
strained them.'' ^* They could not but speak the 
things which they had seen and heard.'* They could 
not but say to men — ^' Come with us and we will do 
you good : " ^* We have found the Messiah : " *' Come 
see a man that told me all that ever I did ; is not 
this the Christ? " And so it will be with Christians 
now if the revival spirit has kindled upon them. 

Finally : Conviction of sinners in considerable num- 
bers indicates the beginning of a revival. Sometimes 
the change in this respect is very gradual ; and for a 
considerable time nothing more can be said than 
that there is a more listening ear, and a more serious 
aspect, than usual, under the preaching of the word ; 
and this increased attention is gradually matured 
into deep solemnity and pungent conviction. In 
other cases, the reigning lethargy is suddenly broken 
up, as if there had come a thunderbolt from eternity ; 
and multitudes are heard simultaneously inquiring 
what they shall do to be saved. 

Some of the foregoing views are confirmed in a 
sentence from Dr. Humphrey's Letters to his Son ; 
which is here reproduced. ** Favorable indications 
may pass away as the morning cloud and the early 



INDICATIONS OF A REVIVAL. 205 

dew, I have myself experienced several such alter- 
nations of hope and discouragement before the revival 
actually came. There are, however, signs and evi- 
dences on which you may rely. If there are great 
searchings of heart in the church ; if old hopes are 
shaken ; if differences of long standing are healed by 
mutual confessions ; if Christians are remarkably 
humble and prayerful, if they speak often one to 
another, and if their bowels yearn over the impeni- 
tent, then is a revival begun. There can be no 
doubt of it. And when in connection with such a 
state of things in the church, sinners in considerable 
numbers are awakened, when you find here and there 
cases of genuine conviction, and some individuals 
giving striking evidence that they have been born 
again, you need not doubt that a real work of grace 
has commenced in the congregation as well as in the 
church. But even then you should guard against 
expressing yourself too sanguinely, when you speak 
on the subject, and should exhort the church to 
** rejoice with tremblingP It is not certain that be- 
cause God'has begun to revive his work, he will carry 
it on ; that because a few have been converted, many 
more will be. The Holy Spirit may be grieved and 
may depart ere you have sung out your first song/' 

'' O Lord, Revive Thy Work/' 



• CHAPTER IX. 

REVIVALS HINDERED AND ARRESTED. 

T F there be one mon>entous question, it is this ; 

Why are not revivals more general, more per- 
manent, more extensive? 

And the answer must be, that there are hindrances 
to their commencement, and that they are often ar- 
rested after they have begun. We take the two 
points separately. 

There are hindrances preventing the existence of 
revivals. 

The great hindering cause is that the churches 
are not living in keeping with their chief design. 
They do not make the conversion of the ungodly 
their one grand aim. The very intention of the 
church of the Lord Jesus, as a converting agency^ 
seems lost sight of. 

The followers of Christ are chiefly engaged about 
other business than that which ought to absorb their 
attention. That business, unquestionably, is the 
salvation of men, the conversion of the world. This 
was the mission which brought Christ himself into 
the world, and which, when he was about to leave 
the world, he committed to the hands of his disci- 
ples of all generations, as the high purpose of their 



REVIVALS HINDERED AND ARRESTED, 20/ 

existence. His first disciples, full of the Holy Ghost 
and of faith, entered on this work, and spent their 
lives and their all in performing it. They planted 
churches in almost every part of the civilized world. 
But nearly eighteen centuries have elapsed since 
they fell asleep, and there has scarcely been, until of 
late, any enlargement of Christianity beyond the 
bounds to which they carried it ; while within these 
bounds it has been, for the most part, in a state of 
deplorable infirmity or monstrous perversion. 

The reason was, that succeeding generations of 
Christians ceased from the work to which the first 
disciples devoted their lives. Christians have re- 
cently had a partial awakening from this mighty 
infatuation ; but partial it truly is. Any one who 
will lift up his eyes and look, in the spirit of Christ, 
over the length and breadth of the most evangelical 
countries, will see the vast multitude of professed 
Christians engaged about almost every thing rather 
than fulfilling the unrevoked command of their 
Lord, to teach all nations, and preach the gospel to 
every creature. 

This, with the love of ease, money, pleasure, 
honor, among professors of religion, rather than an 
ardent and laborious desire for the conversion of 
perishing sinners, and a lack of holiness, humility, 
and dependence upon God on the part of preachers, 
most certainly is the greatest hindrance to revivals ; 
— the mighty mountain which stands in the way of 
the church's enlargement. 

Distrust of revivals is another hindering cause. 



2o8 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

Sometimes this takes the shape of positive opposi- 
tion ; and the solemn words of Dr. Porter deserve 
to be rung out in awful tones in the ears of opposers. 
Speaking of the revivals in the early part of this 
century, he says ; ^^ In a few instances the Holy 
Spirit was hindered among a people by decided 
■ opposition on the part of the pastor, or leading 
members of a church. As there is a sin which 
shall never have forgiveness, when committed by 
obdurate contemners of God and his grace, — a sin 
that is unpardonable, not because it transcends the 
mercy of God or the merits of Christ, but because 
the sinner will be left to himself, and therefore will 
never repent, — so a church whose minister or mem- 
bers revile the special work of the Holy Spirit, 
ascribing it to fanaticism, or Satanic agency,, are 
sometimes left to wither under a judicial dereliction, 
like the mountains of Gilboa, on which there was 
neither rain nor dew. Some awful examples of this 
sort are upon record in the history of New England.*' 
But there may be feelings of distrust when there 
is no open opposition. And where these feelings 
prevail, it cannot be a matter of surprise that no 
extended and powerful revivals should exist. For 
there the means ordinarily essential to their existence 
w411 not be used, but on the contrary will be care- 
fully avoided. If at any time symptoms should be 
discovered of the public mind becoming more than 
usually interested on the subject of religion, efforts 
would then be made to guard against the incipient 
and dreaded evil. Who can reasonably wonder that 



REVIVALS HINDERED AND ARRESTED. 



209> 



under such circumstances, there should be no 
revivals? Would it not rather be strange if the fact 
were otherwise ? Is there evidence that God ever 
revives his work where it is not wished for? '' If I 
kaew/* says one, '^ that anywhere revivals were not 
desired, but rather dreaded, I should want no other 
explanation of the fact that they are not enjoyed ; 
this is reason enough/' 

We greatly fear that a distrust of revivals in the 
minds of some, even of pastors, and a doubt, on 
the whole, of their desirableness has grieved the 
gracious Spirit, and hindered his visits to cheer and 
bless the churches of the land. Undoubtedly it is 
one of the most serious impediments to revivals. 
The obstructions with which they meet from open 
opposers are trifling compared with the cold indiffer- 
ence of those who ought to be their friends and help- 
ers. The plants of a greenhouse can endure the 
storms without, but when masses of ice are in the 
enclosure, how can they grow ? 

Hence it is a solemn duty of each objector that 
he examine his own heart, and the grounds of 
his indifference or opposition to revivals. If they 
are the genuine work of God ; if they accord with 
the statements of the Bible ; if they are such results 
as he has a right to expect under the preaching of 
the gospel, he is bound, by all the love which he 
bears to his Saviour, and to the souls of men, to 
desire and pray for their increase and extension. 

It is much, it is everything, when Christians 
intelligently, and on settled grounds, believe in the 



2 10 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS, 

existence and value of revivals of religion ; and we 
cannot hope for these descending influences until they 
shall think on this subject as the Saviour thought, 
and feel as he felt. 

Mr. Barnes once put to his congregation some 
questions which any pastor might press home upon 
all his hearers. They were like these: Are there 
none of you who start back at the word revival^ 
and who feel an instinctive dislike to the name ? 
Are there none in whose minds the word suggests 
the idea of mere excitement ; of scenes of enthusi- 
asm and disorder ; of irregularity and wildfire ? Are 
there none who, when they pray, and with very hon- 
est intentions in the main, for a revival, do it with 
many qualifications and mental reservations, and 
with an apprehension or fear that the prayer may be 
answered ;— who pray from the custom of using such 
language, rather than from any intelligent and sin- 
cere wish that such scenes may be witnessed ? 
When prayers are offered for revivals, are there, 
practically^ no prayers against them ? While the 
fervent petitions of a portion of an assembled church 
ascend to heaven for the descent of the Holy Spirit 
like floods and showers, are there no counter peti- 
tions that cross and recross the prayers of those who 
love revivals, as they ascend up to God ? 

On this theme of such incalculable importance to 
the churches, we subjoin a passage from a discourse 
by Dr. Skinner, which is worthy of prayerful consid- 
eration. " No man should allow himself in any dis- 
trust or misgiving of religious revivals, such as have 



I 



REVIVALS HINDERED AND ARRESTED. 2II 

rendered our land almost peculiar in the eyes of the 
old world. If some of the evils of the day are to be 
referred to them as the occasion, what good or de- 
sirable thing is there among us which is not indebted 
to them, under God, as the chief support and encour- 
agement, if not the origin ? If we stand in doubt 
whether these remarkable effusions of the Spirit be 
desirable or not, should we not, in order to be con- 
sistent with ourselves, begin to question the ulti- 
mate success of Christianity? What manner of 
persons must they be, in heaviness and sorrow, or 
else in hardness of heart, who can allow themselves 
in distrustful thoughts concerning the desirable- 
ness of religious revivals? Evils, it is true, are in- 
cidental to revivals ; but all is ultimately lost 
without them. And when one begins to object 
to good and necessary things because of the evils 
of which they may be the occasion, where will he 
find a stopping-place, until he* has objected to the 
incarnation of Christ, the preaching of the gospel, 
the government of God, his own existence, and even 
the creation of the world?" 

To proceed : a pastor may prevent the beginning 
of a revival. History is instructive on this point. 
A writer upon the progress of the churches in New 
England some half century ago, states that there 
were congregations amid the surrounding showers of 
divine influence which were entirely passed by ; and 
that ^* the pastor was the greatest obstacle to a re- 
vival among his people. And this was true, though 
he was not chargeable with any heresy, or immoral- 



2 1 2 HANDBOOK OF RE VI VALS. 

ity, or hostility to revivals.'' He specifies that 
brother A. was of a sluggish temperament. Brother 
B. was of a literary taste, an idolator of books, espe- 
cially of popular literature, by which his spirituality 
was impaired. Brother C. was fond of social and 
fashionable entertainments, and in the habit of jest- 
ing and story-telling, which destroyed the savor of 
godliness and unfitted him for revival work. Brother 
D. hurt his usefulness by the multiplicity of worldly 
things that filled his hands, and he had not time or 
heart to help forward special services. Brother E. 
was so ambitious of a classical style that he sacrificed 
pungency and power to rhetorical embellishment. 
And brother F. was one of the ^^ moral preachers," 
who condemned vices and extolled the virtues, but 
did 7tot preach sin and redemption. ^' These ministers 
saw no revivals, and themselves were the principal 
cause of it." 

Further. Want of action at the right time may 
occasion the loss of a revival. Especially if God is 
pouring out his Spirit around us, it is the time for 
us to work. If one sigh of a true Christian, says an 
old divine, wafts the bark to the desired haven, or 
stirreth Zion's ship, how much more a gale of sighs 
breathed by hundreds of believers ! If one trumpet 
sounds so loudly in the ears of God, how much more 
a concert of all the silver trumpets in Zion sounding 
together ! Where so many hands are lifted up, how 
many blessings may they not pull down from 
heaven ! 

Often have I observed, says an experienced win- 



REVIVALS HINDERED AND ARRESTED. 



213 



ner of souls, a time when '' the heavens were big 
with rain/' and yet the thirsty land remained un- 
watered, because we were slothful to do God's work 
in his time. 

We read that the dying Elisha commanded King 
Joash to take a bunch of arrows, and smite the 
ground with them. — 2 Kings, 13: 18, 19. '^ And he 
smote thrice, and stayed." The dying prophet was 
deeply grieved in spirit, and said, ^^ Thou shouldst 
have smitten five or six times; then thou hadst 
smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas, 
now, thou shalt smite Syria but thrice." He finally 
obtained only three victories over the enemies of 
Israel, when it would appear that God intended to 
have given him five or six signal victories, — quite to 
the overthrow of Syria. Upon which it has been re- 
marked that his three strokes indicated his tendency 
to slackness or indolence, and also were an intimation 
that a few victories over the enemies of his God would 
satisfy a soul fond of ease and quiet ^ and these were 
all the Lord gave him. This but illustrates how a 
church may from irresolution and lack of promptness, 
lose a splendid victory. 

In a time of general awakening, Dr. Nettleton, 
wrote in the following strain to one of his brethren 
in the ministry: 

*^ It becomes every friend of Zion to prepare the 
way of the Lord through all the towns in this region. 
The fields are whitening all around us ; and though 
God can create and gather the harvest without 
human instrumentality, yet we do not expect it. A 



214 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



revival begun is likely to subside without the constant 
pressure of gospel motives on the consciences of the 
awakened. It is obvious from experience, that God 
generally blesses far more extensively the means for 
extending his work, than he does for commencing it 
in the midst of surrounding darkness. As the con- 
version of one sinner is often the means of awaken- 
ing every member of the family, and the impulse is 
again felt through every kindred branch, and through 
the village and town ; so one town may be the 
means of revival in another, and that in another. 
Though some ministers feel the truth of this remark, 
yet few, if any, realize it in its full force. There is 
as really a season of harvest in the moral as in the 
natural world. Now every hand that can hold a 
sickle needs all its strength. The harvest /////;/ ripe^ 
neglected a few days is forever lost. Other fields 
may whiten, and the same field a second time, but 
the former neglected harvest is lost forever. There 
is a crisis in the feelings of a people, which, if not 
improved, the souls of that generation will not be 
gathered. In the season of a revival more may ho, 
done — more is often done to secure the salvation of 
souls, in a few days, or weeks, than in years spent in 
preaching at other times. One sermon, in a revival, 
often does more execution than a hundred equally 
good out of it. And I verily believe that more 
good may be lost for the want of that one., than can 
be done with it, and with a thousand like it, when 
the crisis is past." 

Again : inactivity in the church may prevent a revi- 



REVIVALS HINDERED AND ARRESTED, 



215 



val. Mr. Edwards, in the great revival under his eye, 
complained of those, *^ standing at a distance, and 
keeping silence;" and he declared that such exposed 
themselves to the curse of Meroz, for not '^ coming 
up to the help of the Lord against the mighty." Com- 
menting upon this curse of old, Mr. Spurgeon forcibly 
says that some such curse will assuredly come upon 
every professing Christian who is backward in help- 
ing the church in the day of her soul's travail. **And 
we shall be hindering the travail of the church if we 
do not share in it. Many church-members think 
that if they do nothing wrong, and make no trouble, 
then they are all right. Not at all, sir ; not at all. 
Here is a chariot, and we are all engaged to drag it. 
Some of you do not put out your hands to pull ; well 
then, the rest of us have to labor so much the more ; 
and the worst of it is, we have to draw you also. 
While you do not add to the strength which draws, 
you increase the weight that is to be drawn. It is 
all very well for you to say, '^ but I do not hinder ;'* 
you do hinder, you cannot help hindering. If a 
man's leg does not help him in walking, it certainly 
hinders him. Oh, I cannot bear to think of it. 
That I should be a hindrance to my own soul's 
growth is bad indeed ; but that I should stand in the 
way of the people of God and cool their courage, 
and damp their ardor — my Master, let it never be ! 
Sooner let me sleep among the clods of the valley 
than be a hindrance to the meanest work that is 
done for thy name." 

Many an earnest minister, with a soul panting for 



2 16 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS, 

conversions, has lamented this lack of cooperation 
on the part of his brethren, and been nearly killed 
by it. An inert, inefficient church, or one self- 
willed and sluggish church-member, will often defeat 
the best-directed efforts of the wisest and best min- 
ister. 

But revivals may be arrested. Let us turn to this 
thought. There is a sense in which, after they have 
been in progress for a season, they may be expected 
to decline, and probably will decline, — perhaps must 
decline. They will decline in respect to the degree of 
vividness and force with which truth will blaze upon 
the mind, and get hold of the feelings of the heart. 
As man is now constituted, and amid the objects by 
which he is now surrounded, perhaps it is not po^i- 
ble that the mind should have, for any great length 
of time together, those vivid and impressive views 
of spiritual objects which for a season it may have, 
and which in a revival of religion it often does have* 
We are inclined to think that the laws of mind, as 
man is in the present world, forbid it. In this sense, 
then, it may be expected that revivals will, (perhaps 
in some degree inust^ decline. They may be 
expected to decline, also, in regard to the number of 
minds simultaneously affected by them. There will 
be a season during which the number of the anxious 
and the rejoicing will increase ; and after a while 
that number will reach its highest point and begin 
to decline, and then the revival in this respect will be 
at stand, or begin to decline. And this, we think, 



REVIVALS HINDERED AND ARRESTED. 



217 



is a result which no human power or skill in the use 
of means can prevent. 

Conversiojts ought to be expected to continue. 
In fact, we have no right to be satisfied unless they 
are perpetually occurring. Moreover, the quickened 
graces of the children of God are to be kept alive, 
and more and more operative. So that, in a sense, 
the work goes on, though less as a specialty, and 
more in another channel or direction. 

It is only in a narrow sense then, that we can 
justify any decline in a revival. And yet the fact in 
question is not to be overlooked. 

Dr. Lyman Belcher's remarks are judicious. 
He says of the special sense of rapid soul-saving, and 
of highly excited Christian feeling in that one di- 
rection, ** It is never worth while to chase a revival 
after it is gone by. The laws of mind and of divine 
sovereignty are in unison, and after the greater stim- 
ulus has been applied and failed, it will do no 
good to apply the less. After one battle and victory, 
it remains to clear the decks and prepare for another. 
We often see an opposite policy followed. A pastor 
deplores that many in whom he is deeply interested 
are not converted ; Christians mourn that the large 
results which seemed within reach are not attained ; 
and they combine in the use of convulsive efforts to 
protract the interest and to awaken and convert the 
unsaved. The consequences are almost uniformly 
the same ; the renewed efforts fail, and pastor and 
people, instead of rejoicing over the harvest gath- 
ered, are filled with despondency.'* 



2 1 8 HANDBOOK OF RE VI VALS, 

When we speak of a revival being arrested, then, 
we refer to its being stopped in its inception ; or 
where it ought to go on to the gathering of many- 
more souls. This frequently occurs ; and it is a re- 
sult to be most anxiously guarded against. We 
specify some of the causes. 

Discouragement at the outset is a frequent cause. 
This may come from not seeing the whole church 
alive; perhaps but a very small part of the church. 
But as a rule the whole body is never awake, — not 
even in the most extensive revivals. We are not to 
wait for this unanimous or general movement. 

The writer once said to some brethren who were 
half-hearted from the inactivity of the body, '* I 
never expect to see this whole church waked up till 
startled by the trump of the Archangel ; let us do 
our duty, and not wait for others." And he here 
puts it upon record, that in all the blessed revivals he 
has passed through he has never seen the whole of 
the church once thoroughly aroused. And this is a 
common experience with pastors. 

Let not Christians spend their time, and divert 
their attention, by complaining to one another of 
those who stand back. It is not their business to 
censure them; neither to wait for them ; but to^^ 
forward in the strength of the Lord. If but two of 
them become truly revived themselves, and agree 
together, and offer up the prayer of faith for a revival 
of religion, they may expect that the blessing will 
be granted. 

Other causes may conspire to produce discour- 




REVIVALS HINDERED AND ARRESTED, 



219 



agement ; such as the state of the weather; thinness 
of audiences, disability of working members, and 
the Hke. Hence it is pecuHarly requisite in God's 
people to exercise great patience in waiting on God 
under special difficulties and disadvantages. 

In fact, it often occurs that in this way or some 
other, the pastor, or the evangehst, is awfully tried 
and humbled at the beginning of a revival ; thus 
being prepared for a rich blessing. 

An experience of Dr. Edward Payson, which 
he gives in his journal under date of Feb. 21, 1815, 
is in place here. He says, of some revival efforts, 
** I expected severe trials, but had few fears of the 
event. The trials came, but they did not come in 
the way that I expected, and therefore I was sur- 
prised and overcome by them. The day of the fast 
was the most dreadful day of my life — the day in 
which I had most dreadful proofs of more than dia- 
bolical depravity of heart. The meeting-house was 
full, but things did not go on in the manner I had 
hoped and expected. I thought all was lost ; and I 
now wonder that I lived through it — that a broken 
heart (as Mr. Newton says disappointed pride and 
madness are called), was not the consequence. For 
some days I saw and heard nothing encouraging, 
and my distress was unabated ; but at the next in- 
quiry meeting I found more than sixty inquirers.'* 
From that time the work went on. 

Unbelief is a chief cause of the cessation of 
revivals. No sin is more dishonoring to God. It is 
discrediting the word of the Almighty. We have 



220 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

th^ most awful warnings in his word against indulg- 
ing it. We read of one place where Jesus did not 
many mighty works because of the unbelief of the 
people. If he did not work miracles on account of 
their unbelief, will he revive his work and convert 
souls while his people are filled with unbelief? It 
has been found by universal experience that just in 
proportion as this prevails, the sinew^s of moral effort 
are severed. Let doubt and unbelief take the place 
of faith, and the Spirit is gone, courage is gone ; men 
beat the air, or sit down in indifference, and the work 
wanes. 

Cessatio7i of a felt dependence on God will arrest 
a revival. We have a most striking illustration of 
the importance of this reliance on God in the expe- 
rience of Dr. Griffin ; which we give in his own 
words : 

'' I preached my first sermon at New Hartford 
Oct. 265 1794. In the fall of 1795 a revival com- 
menced, which in the course of the winter apparently 
brought about fifty to the knowledge of the truth. 
The neighboring towns were not then visited : but in 
October 1798 a great revival began at West Sims- 
bury on the east, and soon extended to Torringford 
on the west, and we were left like a parched island 
in the midst of surrounding floods. The agonies of 
that hour can never be told. First one, and then 
two, and afterwards more met me in my study for 
prayer, and the wrestlings were such as I had never 
witnessed in a meeting before. On the 4th of No- 
vember I went to the house of God, saying as I went, 



REVIVALS HINDERED AND ARRESTED, 221 

'^ My soul, wait thou only, only^ ONLY upon God, 
for my expectation is from him." During the morn- 
ing service I scarcely looked at the audience, and 
cared not whether they were asleep or awake, feeling 
that the question of a revival did not lie between me 
and them, but was to be settled in heaven. In the 
afternoon, in alluding to the fact that Jesus of Naz« 
areth was passing by and we were left, and could 
hardly hope for another visit soon, and to the awful 
prospects of sinners in the middle of life if another 
revival should not come in twelve or fifteen years, I 
seemed to take an eternal leave of heads of families 
out of Christ. I came near falling. I thought I should 
be obliged to stop, but was carried through. The 
next day it was apparent that a revival had com- 
menced. A dozen heads of families of the most re- 
spectable class were under conviction; and in the 
course of the winter and the following year a hundred 
were hopefully added to the Lord. The last time I 
heard that 4th of November referred to at New 
Hartford, I was told that between forty and fifty of 
those converted dated their convictions to that day." 

One who does not know something of this expe- 
rience has not been much in revivals. While this 
sense of utter dependence exists, God can consistently 
bless. When it ceases, the work ceases. Let the 
example never be forgotten. 

Hence, resting on men or measures will stop a 
revival. When an evangelist comes, or the pastor is 
specially engaged, or special meetings arc commenced, 
the extreme danger is that private duties will be 

lO"^ 



222 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

neglected, — such as heart-searching humihation, and 
communion with God. The unconscious feehng is, 
that we can do without these now ; and so we ^art 
company with God our strength. Just here minis- 
ters and workers commit a serious evil. Engaged 
from day to day, and from evening to evening, in 
exhorting sinners to repent, and in praying for and 
comforting the penitent, they are very liable to 
excuse themselves from the duties of self-examina- 
tion, and family and private prayer. They thus 
lose their spirituality^ and consequently their energy 
and efficiency. Having put the car in motion, they 
leap on, and it ceases to move. We may backslide 
during the progress of a revival ! Let it never be 
forgotten, that a time of great blessing is a time of 
great peril ! 

This resting on particular measures has another 
evil worthy of distinct mention. We often see 
revivals decline as soon as the special means are 
wdthdraw^n ; indicating that the instriiinentality was 
made too prominent, and too much trusted in, to the 
exclusion of the Spirit and power of God; and the 
simple exhibition of divine truth. God, having been 
overlooked, overlooks us. In the effort to bless 
ourselves, we have lost the blessing of heaven. 

Decline of prayerfulness will arrest a revival. 
Of the ^^ taking hold on God" in times of a revival, 
Dr. Lyman Beecher says that no one who ever felt 
it can fail to recognize it, as kindred cords are made 
to vibrate by each other's motion. It is a deep, 
constant, unutterable desire that God may be glori- 



REVIVALS HINDERED AND ARRESTED, 



223 



fied in the salvation of souls, — it is love to^God, — it 
IS compassion for man, — it is gratitude, — it is broken- 
hearted, child-like desire, flowing from a full fountain, 
day and night, in ejaculations and protracted wrest- 
lings at the throne of grace. And he says, " I bear 
testimony to the glory of God and the truth of his 
promises, that I have never known him to say to a 
church in which such a spirit of prayer prevailed, 
' Seek ye me in vain/ But without this spirit of 
prayer a revival cannot be sustained ; and when it 
declines, the glorious work must stop. Whenever 
the humble boldness, the brokenness of heart, the 
prostration of spirit in the dust, are gone ; the tender 
inimitable pathos of the soul evaporated; and the 
still small voice of simple unaffected importunity is 
exchanged for earnest, loud, confident, unhumbled 
supplication, we will soon witness the gradual sus- 
pension of divine influence.*' 

Undue and premature rejoicing may hinder the 
progress of a revival. '* Let not him that girdeth on 
his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.'' 
A great general cried, ** No shouting!" as some new 
recruits gained a slight victory. The writer has 
often said in the beginning of a revival, " Let it be 
headed in,'' — referring to cutting in trees to compel 
them to get roots. A revival must have bottom ; 
and exulting belongs to the flowers and the leaves, 
not the roots. 

No doubt incipient revivals are often checked 
by the confident and even boastful way in which 
they arc regarded and spoken of. Wise leaders will 



224 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

watch this. The biographer of Mr. Nettleton tells 
us that when things began to assume a favorable ap- 
pearance, he did not like to see professors of religion 
elated, and disposed to talk about it with an air of 
exultation. He knew that flattering appearances 
often suddenly vanish, and he had learned that it is 
apt to be so when Christians begin to rejoice prema- 
turely. He frowned upon everything like ostenta- 
tion, and discouraged the disposition which too 
often prevails, to proclaim a revival upon the first in- 
dication of unusual seriousness. 

And it must be added, that some, while publish- 
ing things to the praise and glory of God, have pub- 
lished things that savored so strongly of a disposition 
to exalt themselves, and to make their own agency 
stand out conspicuously, as to create unhappy im- 
pressions and injure the work. 

Satisfaction with present r^^^^//^ may be in the way 
of progress. If it be felt that the harvest in the sheaf 
is all that can be gathered. Christians will be less 
on their knees with their faces in the dust, and less 
consecrated to the service of soul-saving. 

A pastor of considerable experience in revivals, 
states that he thinks this a common cause of the 
cessation of the work. The impression is something 
like this : The blessing has already been larger than 
we could have hoped for, considering our infinite 
unworthiness, and we regard it as a rich earnest of 
what God will do for us when he shall be pleased to 
come and revive us again ; but we must wait God's 



REVIVALS HINDERED AND ARRESTED. 22$ 

time for the conversion of the many who are left. 
In this way Satan gains an advantage over us. 

Diversion of the public mind by any counter ex- 
citement is hurtful to a revival. It is something to 
keep up the train of sacred associations ; and what- 
ever comes in to distract attention is to be avoided. 

Hence sectarian discussions are hurtful. When 
these arise, especially if there be unhappy wran- 
glings, the Spirit is grieved, and the revival may be 
considered at end. 

Indiscretions, wild excitement, aitd excesses of any 
kind harm and hinder a work. President Edwards 
says, '^ It has been a common device of the devil to 
overset a revival of religion, when he finds he can 
keep men quiet and secure no longer, by driving 
them to excesses and ' extravagances. He holds 
them back as long as he can, but when he can do it 
no longer, then he will push them on, and if possible 
run them upon their heads. And it has been by this 
means chiefly that he has been successful, in several 
instances, to overthrow most promising works." 

In fine, whatever grieves the Spirit must tend to 
arrest a work of grace. And if it seems to come to 
a stand, it ought to alarm Christians, and prompt 
them to detect and correct the hindering cause. 

Happy is that people with whom is found no 
hindrance to the commencement of a revival ! And 
happy is that people, who, when it has begun, op- 
poses no barrier to its progress ! 

'' O Lord, Revive Thy Work ! " 



CHAPTER X. 

REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS. 

"T^ I VINE sovereignty is nowhere more conspicuous 
than in revivals of religion. In very many 
respects, such as their origin, progress, instrumen- 
talities, time, locality, continuance, occurrence here 
and not there, and the Hke, all we can say is, *' Even 
so. Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight." 

And hence to many persons there is something 
offensive in the language commonly used respecting 
revivals. When they hear of, or read directions 
*' how to promote a revival," and ^^ how to conduct 
a revival,'' they are apt to feel as if there was of 
necessity something profane, if not positively im- 
pious, in such language. It seems as if man were 
presuming to attempt, by his own devices and 
arrangements, to originate and guide the operations 
of the Holy Spirit. Yet there is no real ground for 
such an idea. All will admit that, even in the 
economy of grace, results are not to be expected 
without the employment of the means. 

And God in accomplishing his purposes, not only 
makes use of means, but adapts means to ends. He 
raises up instruments, and fits them for the work 
which they are destined to perform. Although no 



REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS. 



227 



labor of the husbandman will insure to him a har- 
vest, yet he has no reason to expect a harvest 
without labor: nor has he a right to conclude that 
it is a matter of indifference what kind of labor he 
employs. He knows it to be important to till his 
ground, and to sow in it good seed. So in the 
moral world must means be adapted to the end. 
Although Paul plant and Apollos water, while God 
alone gives the increase, yet we are not to suppose 
that it is of no consequence what seed is planted, or 
how it is planted and watered. It is true God might 
bring to pass different results when the same means 
are used, yet ordinarily when the results are differ- 
ent there is some difference in the means or the 
manner of employing them. 

With reference to the revival in his day, Mr. Ed- 
wards affirms that it is the work of God, and not of 
man. ^' Its beginning has not been of man's power 
or device, and its being carried on depends not on 
our strength or wisdom.'' But he adds : ** God yet 
expects of all that they use their utmost endeavors 
to promote it, and that the hearts of all should be 
greatly engaged in it, and that we should improve 
our utmost strength in it, however vain human 
strength is without the power of God.'' 

This is the true view in respect to all revivals. 
Here, as everywhere, there are to be specific adapta- 
tions of means to ends. And we are to labor as 
though the work were entirely our own, and feci as 
if it were God's work alone. 

As another general remark, it may be observed 



228 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

that particular revival means and measures greatly 
change in effectiveness, and often cease to be opera- 
tive. What was once useful seems worn out, and 
has to be laid aside. And this is so ordered, prob- 
ably, that reliance should not be placed on the instru- 
mentality rather than on God. 

It is unsafe therefore to predict how revivals will 
be best carried on in the after time ; though of their 
existence and great extension there cannot be a 
doubt. Agencies are at God's disposal ; and he will 
shift them as often as he sees fit. We speak here, of 
course, of special agencies ; for to the end of the 
world the ordinary means of grace, properly so-called, 
will remain the same. 

The question may here arise whether we are jus- 
tified in going about to produce a revival spirit : — 
whether, in the absence of any signs of a revival, 
special 7neans may be entered upon to secure a better 
state of things. Shall we wait for indications of a 
revival before any particular means are used ; or 
shall we rather use special means to bring into exist- 
ence those indications ? 

Different views would be taken of this question. 
Generally there would be a hesitancy as to employing 
specific agencies to produce a revival spirit. Some 
would be ready to attach to this the odious term of 
** getting up '/ a revival. And yet much can be said 
in favor of the opposite view. Who would object, 
for instance, to praying more when the state of reli- 
gion is low? Who would object to preaching vj\i\\ 
more pungency, and perhaps more frequency? Who 



REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS, 



229 



would object to the ' two or three ; ' getting together 
oftener for crying out with one heart and voice, 
^' Spare, Lord, and give not thine heritage to 
reproach ! " 

But in such a case special means and measures 
are already being e^nployed to produce a better state 
of things. We see, then, that it is a matter of 
methods^ rather than th^ thing itself, about which 
there would be hesitancy. 

How, then, are revivals to be promoted ? We 
know not where to find a more comprehensive answer 
than in the words of a missionary in the West, who 
wrote thus respecting his people : " We are obedi- 
ently waiting, anxiously looking, fervently praying, 
confidently hoping, and every day living, for a re- 
vival of the work of God in our charge." 

Dr. Francis Wayland, in 1832, says of the revival 
about that period, ^' The means most successfully 
used for the obtaining of this blessing are these : 

1. On the part of the church, putting away all 
known sin. The enforcement of strict discipline, the 
universal engagement in behalf of temperance, the 
renewal of covenants with God, more universal sepa- 
ration from the world, have all been frequently fol- 
lowed by seasons of revival. 

2. Setting apart seasons of fasting, and prayer, 
and humiliation, both individually and collectively, 
has very commonly been attended with a blessing. 
Those seasons which have been followed by most 
powerful revivals have been marked by unusual con- 
fession of sin, deep humility, earnest longing for the 



230 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

salvation of others, specially of parents for children 
and of relatives for relatives. In innumerable cases, 
such prayers have been in a remarkable manner an- 
swered. 

3. The more frequent and more faithful preach- 
ing of the gospel has been generally followed by in- 
crease of religious attention in a congregation. 
Meetings for conference, or for exhortation and 
prayer, by lay brethren, have been very common, 
and have been very useful. 

As an instance of getting ready, or preparing the 
way for a revival, when as yet there were no indica- 
tions of one, we mention the great work in Salem, 
N. J., a few years since ; the particulars of which are 
given by Rev. Dr. Murphy, then the pastor. He 
says, '^ Early in last summer the church resolved to 
hold a series of meetings, to commence in autumn. 
From that time many in the church were constantly 
looking forward to the anticipated meetings, and 
earnestly praying that God would open the way and 
prepare his people for the work. The city and 
vicinity was divided into convenient districts for 
tract distribution, and personal visiting and conversa- 
tion on the subject of religion. The sermons and 
lectures of the pastor, for months, were prepared in 
view of this special work, and often the burden of 
prayer in our social meetings had reference to the 
same end. The condition of the church at that 
time did not promise any great results. While 
there were no great difficulties in the way, yet there 
was a very general apathy and coldn^p.^s. The 



REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS. 23 I 

pastor canvassed the families connected with the 
church, taking down the names of the unconverted, 
and reported to the church that there were more 
than two hundred of this class. We tried to hold- 
these facts before us. We talked them over in our 
personal and social intercourse. We laid them 
before God, as we knelt in private and social prayer. 
Special meetings were appointed to pray for the out- 
pouring of the Holy Spirit. These grew in interest 
and attendance. As our hearts grew warm under 
these influences, words of confession and of renewed 
consecration to God were frequently heard. Just 
before our special meetings commenced, we had a 
notice of the meetings printed on the back of one- 
page tracts, cordially inviting all to attend; request- 
ing the sympathies and prayers of Christians in our 
efforts, and kindly urging the unconverted to prepare 
to meet 'God. One of these, with a suitable four- 
page tract, was enclosed in an envelope, bearing the 
printed inscription : " Please take this home ; read 
the enclosed carefully ; think about the subject 
earnestly ; act honestly and promptly. Time is 
short.'' Packages of these were placed in the hands 
of distributors, with instructions how to distribute 
them. Hundreds of them were distributed in the 
city and surrounding country. Frequently a written 
note was added, and the whole enclosed in another 
envelope, directed to some friend, and sent through 
the post-office, or by the hand of a messenger. 
Thus we sought to prepare the zvay of the Lord. 
Special meetings commenced on Sabbath, November 



232 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



8th, and continued on till Sabbath, March 20th. 
During this entire time, of 134 days, there were 
meetings every evening except six. There were also 
frequent afternoon meetings for prayer and confer- 
ence, or to meet inquirers, or hear the experience of 
candidates for baptism. From the very first there 
was a good attendance, and soon there were anxious 
inquirers. Rev. H. G. DeWitt, evangelist, of Canan- 
daigua, N. Y., had been engaged to assist us. He 
came on the second week of our meetings, and 
remained nearly four weeks, preaching every evening. 
His labors were greatly blessed to both the church 
and community." 

Two hundred and fifty were added to the church 
upon profession in connection with this revival. All 
would be ready to say, if this be in any sense a going 
to work to ^^ get up a revival,'* more of it would be 
desirable. 

The following excellent suggestions were com- 
piled and printed in view of special meetings, by Rev. 
Dr. S. H. Hall; and were a means of good to his 
people, among whom they were freely distributed. 

1. If these meetings are not blessed, not only are 
the fairest opportunities and the most promising 
means for the conversion of sinners lost, but the 
hearts of sinners are rendered more callous to the 
truth. — Therefore resolve^ before God, to avoid 
every sin by which the usefulness of these meetings 
may be prevented, and perform every duty devolv- 
ing on you to render them successful. 

2. Some meetings are not blessed for the want 



REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS, 



233 



of earnest, importunate, believing prayer. — There- 
fore resolve to '' pray without ceasing,'* and to pre- 
sent your prayers in humihty and faith. 

3. Some meetings are not blessed because men 
rely too much upon an arm of flesh. — Therefore resolve 
to cherish constantly the conviction that without the 
Holy Spirit no good effects can be expected. 

4. These meetings are sometimes unsuccessful 
because the people of God make such a reliance on 
divine sovereignty that they neglect to pray or labor 
with earnestness and fervor, forgetting the uniform 
and necessary connection between the means and the 
end. — Therefore resolve faithfully to use those means 
which God has promised to bless, viz., Christian 
example, direct personal conversation, believing 
prayer. 

5. Sometimes these meetings fail of the greatest 
usefulness because the lay members of the church 
depend too much upon the minister, or upon each 
other. — Therefore r^'i-*^/^/^ to cherish a sense of your 
personal responsibility ; and remember that to labor 
for the salvation of souls is a common Christian duty. 

6. Sometimes these meetings are not blessed 
because they are not well attended. — Therefore 
resolve to attend as much as practicable yourself; 
to arrange your domestic concerns so as to permit 
your family to attend, and to endeavor to persuade 
your friends and neighbors to attend. 

7. Sometimes the cause of sinners' remaining 
unconverted is, that nothing is said to them but 
from the pulpit. — Therefore resolve to embrace every 



234 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



proper opportunity to converse with them on the 
subject of their souls' salvation. 

8. Prayers and exhortations that are too long, or 
on subjects too various, prevent the impression of 
divine truth, or tend to dissipate impression when 
made. — Therefore resolve^ that when called upon to 
pray or speak, you will have your prayers or exhor- 
tation short, and bearing upon the express object of the 
meeting. 

9. The harboring of unkind feelings, the want 
of charity and forbearance, ill will, the indulgence of 
former prejudices or animosities, may prevent the 
outpouring of God's Spirit. — Therefore resolve that 
no such unholy feeling shall find a place in your 
bosom for a moment. Seek reconciliation where 
you have given or taken offence, and endeavor to 
cherish toward all your brethren a spirit of Christian 
fellowship and kindness, and toward every enemy a 
spirit of forgiveness and affection. 

10. Though '* hand join in hand,'' the united 
efforts of thousands of impenitent sinners cannot pre- 
vent a blessing ; yet one lukewarm sinful child of 
God may do it. — Therefore resolve to be free from 
this sin. Renew your covenant engagement. 
Return to your first love. Come up with greater 
zeal to *'the help of the Lord/' that the blood of 
souls may not be found in your skirts. Remeinber 
Acha7t, I Chron. 2 : 7. 

This was a wise method of preparing the way of 
the Lord ; and may well be followed. 

There is a large amount of practical common 



REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS. 235 

sense in an article which appeared some years ago in a 
rehgious weekly, from a pastor whose name was not 
given. He says, as to preparing for a revival, '' I would 
endeavor to gain clear views of the soul's immense 
value, by contemplating its nature, its capabilities, 
what it cost to procure redemption for it, what God 
is doing to try to save it, what evil angels are doing 
to try to ruin it, and where it will be ten thousand 
years hence if saved, or if lost. Remember that 
each man, and woman, and child in your congrega- 
tion is the owner of such a soul, and is to have the 
disposing of it for a long eternity. Ask yourself, can 
nothing more be done to arouse these immortal be- 
ings from their death slumbers? Have I preached 
to them faithfully, affectionately, plainly ? Have I 
brought the truth on their consciences in private con- 
versation as well as in public ? Can I honestly and 
truthfully say, I am free from all their blood ? If 
you see short-comings — and doubtless you will see 
many of them — humble yourself at the foot of the 
cross, and obtain a^ fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost. 
If God has restored to you the joy of his salvation, 
and imparted a fresh unction from on high, go to the 
best brother you have in your church, take him alone, 
and lay open your whole heart to him. Tell him the 
anxiety you feel for souls, and the desire you have 
for their salvation. Cordially counsel together, and 
unite in prayer. If this brother sympathizes with 
you in your views and feelings, invite one or two 
others to join you, and let them into your secret feel- 
ings and purposes. Should you and they think it 



236 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

advisable to have a protracted meeting, then consult 
whether you will be likely to need any ministerial 
aid. 

*^As many people within the bounds of your parish 
live at a distance from church, special pains should 
be taken to inform them of the contemplated meet- 
ing, and to invite them to attend. That this busi- 
ness may be done thoroughly, it may be well to hold 
meetings in the different out-neighborhoods a few 
days before the services in the church are to com- 
mence. Each family in the respective neighborhoods 
should be visited by the minister and one of the 
brethren, or by two brethren in company, and invited 
to the meeting that evening in their school-house, 
and also to the contemplated protracted meeting. 
The evening meeting should be as interesting and 
solemn as you can possibly make it. Testify to the 
hearers like one pressed in spirit. Tell them that 
now is the accepted time, and day of salvation. 
Tell them that the opportunity about to be afforded 
them is like the harvest time to the farmer, and that 
those who let the opportunity pass without improv- 
ing it, will be likely to take up the bitter lamentation 
hereafter: *' The harvest is past; the summer is 
ended ; and we are not saved.'' Urge them to 
come up to the Lord's house during the special effort, 
and to come regularly. 

^' On the Sabbath on which, or before which, the 
protracted meeting is to commence, you should be 
sure to go into the pulpit full of faith and of the 
Holy Ghost, and preach as though you never ex- 



REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS, 



237 



pected to preach again — preach as Paul and Barna- 
bas did in Iconium, where they so spake that a mul- 
titude beheved. And let your prayers sho^Y that you 
have just come down from the mount. Let the love 
of souls fill your heart, and fire your tongue. Let 
your eyes run down with weeping — let your cheeks 
be wet with tears. Endeavor to lead the church to 
feel that fearful responsibility rests upon them, in 
the coming struggle. Tell them about Meroz, which 
received a curse instead of a blessing, because she 
came not up to the help of the Lord against the 
mighty. In giving the invitation to the unconverted, 
affectionately urge them to attend the meetings as 
much as possible, and tell them it may be their last 
opportunity. Tell them it is a time of merciful vis- 
itation, and exhort them not to be like the Jews 
over whom the Saviour wept because they knew not 
the time of their visitation, till the things which be- 
longed to their peace were hid from their eyes. 

"" Having thus prepared the way for commencing 
a protracted meeting, you need not fear to begin 
it. I have been in some sixty protracted meetings, 
and not one of this number which was commenced 
under anything like the above favorable circum- 
stances, has failed of resulting in a good number of 
conversions.*' 

Coming to particulars, \\\^ first thing as to revival 
means and methods is, to Jiave our oivn heart right. 
Says Mr. Earle, whose extensive experience enables 
him to speak intelligently here, *' A revival of relig- 
ion, like a fire, must begin somewhere: ' Behold, how 



238 ^^ -V'j9^ OK OF RE VI FA L S. 

great a matter a little fire kindleth ! ' A fire often 
begins with a little match, and works its way through 
the combustible material about it until it has swept 
over an extensive region. So a work of grace often 
commences with a single Christian — never with the 
whole church. As soon as that one Christian is filled 
with the Holy Spirit, he goes after others, to lead 
them to the Saviour, or to induce believers to join 
him in efforts for a revival. Jesus fulfils his promise, 
* Lo, I am with you ; ' and others are soon moved 
and melted, and the work begins to widen. So that 
whoever would promote a revival of religion should 
begin with his own hearty and pray, and confess, and 
believe, until he feels his heart all subdued and melt- 
ed by the Holy Spirit, — until his love to' Christ is 
glowing, fervid, burning, — until he finds himself 
groaning over the lost condition of men, and, hke 
Jesus, being in an agony, prays more earnestly.'' 

Especially should the minister first be rigJit. The 
reservoir will not rise higher than the fountain. A 
cold heart will never make other hearts hot. Nor 
will diXiy feigned \\^dX suffice. It must be the fire of 
the Holy Ghost. Says Edwards, ^^ especially we that 
are ministers not only have need of some true ex- 
perience of the saving influence of the Spirit of God 
upon our heart, but we need a double portion of the 
Spirit of God at such a time as this. We have need 
to be as full of hght as a glass held out in the sun ; 
and with respect to love and zeal, to be like the 
angels that are a flame of fire. The state of the 
times requires 2. fulness of the Divine Spirit in niin- 



/REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS. 



239 



isters, and we ought to give ourselves no rest until 
we have obtained it/' 

It is a grave mistake that many a minister makes 
just at this point. If, instead of trying to " marshal 
a movement," he were reviewing his own deficiencies 
of heart and duty, charging himself anew with his 
responsibiHties, and devoting himself more faithfully 
to his people and to God's whole truth, it were far 
better. A secret work thus begun, is enough to 
heave in due time a whole community; and it is the 
more powerful, because it moves in the legitimate 
order of action. It begins, bowing to duty first and 
chief, and leaves results for the most part to come 
in their natural shape. It works in the hand of 
God, trustfully, humbly, pertinaciously, and follow- 
ing whithersoever he leads. And when God leads 
his servant into a crisis of great moment, he is in it 
naturally^ he moulds it to himself as if constituted 
for the time to be its presiding power. 

Family work is next to be done. This is the di- 
vine order ; first the individual, then the house- 
hold. 

Next, the church is to be right. Perhaps discipline 
will need to be resorted to before a revival can be 
expected. Dr. Porter, in his Lectures, states that 
with churches in New England where discipline was 
neglected, and immorality countenanced, refreshings 
were not enjoyed. We are to *' take up the stum- 
bling-blocks out of the way.'* Where great obstacles 
exist, they must be removed. This is the first step. 

Fasting and prayer have always been resorted to 



240 



HAXDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



in order that the church might be in a right state. 
Dr. Payson says : ** We have found no means so 
much blessed to keep reHgion aHve in the church as 
fasting and prayer. Ever since my settlement, the 
church has set apart one day quarterly for this pur- 
pose/' Plainly, such setting apart of whole days for 
prayer and humiliation before God must be of great 
advantage. As one result, it tends most forcibly to 
arrest incipient declension in the church when such 
declension has begun, and to bring them up anew 
to the work; and it is like barbed arrows in the 
hearts of the impenitent sinners. Cases have been 
known in which they have been awakened while 
barely passing the place where such meetings were 
held. 

Let Christians also abound in moral practices^ such 
as acts of righteousness, truth, meekness, forgive- 
ness, and love towards our neighbor ; which are of 
much greater importance in the sight of God than all 
the externals of his worship. Let them also ht filled 
with contrition. The command of God is to *^ break 
up the fallow ground." i. e. to break up our hearts to 
prepare our minds to bring forth fruit unto God. 

In these ways, and others, should the church 
strive after nearness to God, and fitness to carry on 
his work. 

An excellent deacon once said to his pastor, after 
a powerful revival, ** I wondered, before the work 
commenced, why you preached so long and pointedly 
to the church. I knew we were in a cold state, and 
needed to be waked up ; but at the time it seemed 



REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS, 



241 



almost cruel in you to lay the blame of our never 
having had a general revival so heavily upon the 
church. I now see that we needed it, and bless God 
that he moved you to deal so faithfully with us, both 
in the pulpit and out of it." If we had all the 
facts, it would no doubt be found that nearly all of 
the most powerful revivals have been immediately 
preceded by a loud and earnest sounding of alarm 
in the ears of the churches. What a record is this : 
*^ When Jesus returned, the people gladly received 
him ; for they were all waiting for himT 

We cannot but give here some weighty words of 
Mr. Earle : ^' It is not enough for those of us who 
preach, that our sermons be able, sound, and well 
delivered, or that we preach what are sometimes 
called revival sermons, and that we also visit and 
converse with men about their souls* interest. It is 
not enough that the church be aroused and go to 
work actively for a revival : all this can be done, and 
but few souls be saved. Nothing can be a substitute 
for real ^ power from on high' No amount of study 
or talent, no effort, however untiring, can take the 
place of the fulness of Christ's love ; * Not by might 
nor by power [human], but by my Spirit, saith the 
Lord.' I have known ministers to preach, and their 
churches to unite with them, day after day, for 
weeks together, for a revival, and yet very little to 
be accomplished. The failure was not because the 
Spirit was unwilling to work with them and bless 
their efforts, nor because a continued meeting is not 
of divine appointment, but because they had not the 



242 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

needed power with God. I am often invited to as- 
sist pastors and churches in a series of meetings, 
with a view of gathering in the multitudes, who are 
unreached by the ordinary means of grace. Im- 
portant as it is to reach this class, I have never found 
any way of doing so, or of reaching the unconverted 
in the regular congregations, until Christians were 
filled with the Spirit, and humbled in the dust in ag- 
onizing prayer." 

" Let me say, then, to pastors and to the churches: 
If you believe the glory of God demands a revival in 
your midst, and you desire to be instrumental in ad- 
vancing the work and bringing sinners to the Saviour, 
first see that your own hearts are thoroughly melted 
and subdued under a deep sense of the condition of 
lost men, and that you are filled with the Spirit. 
Spend days and nights, if necessary, in humiliation, 
fasting, and prayer, until the Spirit comes down 
upon you, and you feel that you have power with 
God ; then you will have power with men." 

We add a few other particulars : 

Contact with revivals is a means of spreading the 
heavenly flame. Edwards says of the work in 
Northampton : ^* There is no one thing that I know 
of, that God has made such a means of promoting 
his work among us as the news of others conversion, 
in the awakening of sinners, and engaging them ear- 
nestly to seek the same blessing, and in the quicken- 
ing of saints." 

Pastors, therefore, will do well to read of revivals 



REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS, 



243 



and visit revival scenes, and talk of them ; and to get 
their brethren and sisters to do the same. 

Suitable tracts and books are useful in promot- 
ing a revival. The writer well remembers how a youth 
under his charge (now a distinguished professor 
in one of our colleges) was finally brought to repent- 
ance through the " Great Inquiry,'' which he gave 
to him, accompanying it with an affectionate letter 
and many prayers. And in all the revivals among his 
people, he has freely used such tracts as *^ Don't put 
it off; " '' What is it to believe on Christ ? " ^^Come 
to Jesus'' (by Newman Hall) and his own ^' Two 
Questions" [*^ Is your soul safe ? " and ^' How can I 
be saved?"] He can safely say that he has known 
of hundreds of conversions as the consequence. 

Personal visitation and conversation should not be 
neglected. It should be entered upon systematically 
ty the pastor and members, and kept up as far as 
possible. 

Protracted meetings are prominent among revival 
means and methods. Daily meetings were held in 
apostolic times. The primitive churches considered 
this example of Christ and the apostles as authority 
for them ; and they continued, down into the fourth 
century, to make daily ^ direct and earnest efforts for 
the conversion of men. Dr. Lardner, in his Ecclesi- 
astical History, says : *' At first the churches assem- 
bled every day ; and traces of this are found in later 
times." Bingham, in his Antiquities of the Church, 
says : '' The most noted and usual times of meeting, 
besides the Lord's day, were the morning and even- 



244 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



ing of every day, which in times of peace were con- 
stantly ajid regularly observed!' 

In 1866, a paper upon special revival efforts was 
issued in Boston over the signatures of some sixty 
well-known ministers, of the different evangelical 
denominations, Avhich deserves to be incorporated in 
this volume. They say that it is abundantly evi- 
dent that the conversion of the world was advancing 
far more rapidly during the first three centuries, and 
was prospectively much nearer its final completion 
fifteen hundred years ago than it is to-day. ^* Why 
this difference in the success of the primitive and the 
modern churches ? Our answer is, y'^^zf 7nodern churches 
make all the effort that primitive churches made ; and 
that but occasionally. Look at the reformation in 
the sixteenth century. That glorious revival of re- 
ligion, which spread over Western Europe, was be- 
gun and carried on by labors not unlike those of the 
apostolic and primitive churches. It was not by 
Sabbath service merely. It was by daily ^ direct and 
earliest efforts for that special purpose^ that that great 
work was promoted. Moreover, the great and 
powerful revivals for which our own country has 
been distinguished, in former years, were the results 
of special efforts. In the revival of 1735, which 
extended through Western Massachusetts, and parts 
of Connecticut and New Jersey, bringing many 
thousands into the church, Pres. Edwards, Mr. En- 
field, Wheelock, Pomroy and others, left their own 
pulpits for months together, and labored as evangel- 
ists in distant places, preaching several times a week. 



REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS, 



245 



or daily. Their preaching was direct and pungent, 
and aimed at the immediate conversion of sinners ; 
and was attended with great success. In 1740, Mr. 
Whitfield, Pendleton, the Tennents and others, 
went on preaching tours through the country, from 
Maine to Philadelphia, arousing the churches and 
sinners to repentance ; and the result was, that in 
eighteen months, probably not less than forty thou- 
sand souls were added to the Lord, or about one- 
sixth part of the whole population in this section of 
the country. 

The great revival of 1797, which lasted five or 
six years, was promoted by preaching tours, minis- 
ters being sent out by the associations, two and two, 
for six months at a time, performing the work of 
evangelists. The churches prepared for their com- 
ing by fasting and prayer, renewal of covenant, etc., 
and a revival almost always followed. The powerful 
work which extended from Ohio, through Kentucky, 
to the Carolinas and Georgia, in 1802-3, was pro- 
moted by similar efforts of the different denomina- 
tions united. Next comes a period of continuous 
revivals for twenty-five years, beginning about 1807, 
which spread over the whole country. Here we 
need not detail facts which are familiar to all'. It is 
well known that the labors of such men as Messrs. 
Nettleton, Finney, Smith, Parmerlee, Foot, Saxton, 
McAuley, Kirk and many others, were intimately 
connected with these extensive triumphs of the 
gospel. 

Again ; the importance of supplemenUng the 



246 HANDBOOK QF REVIVALS. 

labors of the Sabbath with direct and earnest efforts 
during the week was also clearly evinced in the great 
revival of 1857-8. Dr. Prime, in his *^ authentic 
account" of the rise and progress of that work, says, 
that ^^ in New York and Brooklyn there were not 
less than one hundred and fifty daily prayer-meetings 
established, many extra places being fitted up for 
that purpose.'' He also says, that ^* a thoroughly 
organized plan of systematic visitation, adopted and 
carried out by these two cities, had much to do with 
the beginning, spread and continuance of this revi- 
val.'' A convention on revivals was held at Pittsburgh, 
in the autumn of 1857. This convention continued in 
session three days, for the purpose of considering the 
rv^z^'^'^iX.y oi a general revival \xi ^W. the churches. A 
plan of personal visitation w^as adopted, by which 
every family should be visited by the pastor and 
some experienced member, and on the first Sabbath 
in January, multitudes of ministers delivered dis- 
courses on the necessity and practicability of 
revivals ; and the following Thursday was observed 
as a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer. AH 
these arrangements powerfully affected the country. 
Immediately after this convention at Pittsburgh, 
another was called at Cincinnati, having the same 
object in view. It was largely attended, and followed 
by similar results. Thus the public mind was 
thoroughly aroused. And it is to be noticed, that 
churches which made no special effort at that time 
added comparatively few to their numbers by pro- 
fession ; as may be seen by referring to the **Congre- 



REVIVAL MEANS' AND METHODS. 



247 



gational Quarterly/' January numbers, for the years 
1858 and 1859. 

Again ; during the last four or five years, churches 
that have connected ^^ special efforts" with the 
ordinary means, though only for short periods, have 
added converts by scores and hundreds ; while those 
churches that have not made such efforts have not 
averaged two conversions a year. Statistics show 
that the Orthodox churches in the United States 
have not made an average net gain of one and one- 
half members a year for the last eight years ; and 
probably not for the last twenty-five years. Aside 
from the results of ^' special revival efforts '' made by 
a few churches, the body of Orthodox churches 
have not made a net gain of one member each, for 
the last eight years ; and probably not for the last 
thirty years. So far as can be ascertained from their 
statistical reports, the churches of the other evangeli- 
cal denominations have not averaged a greater 
number of additions by profession during this period. 
Whoever will examine the reports of additions by 
profession to those churches that make no '' special 
revival efforts," and compare them with those 
churches known to make such efforts, will be satisfied 
as to the comparative value of the two systems of 
means for the conversion of men. 

Again ; an examination of these statistical reports 
will show, that the great mass of churches that rely 
on the ordinary means alone, barely hold their own 
from year to year. Dr. E. Porter, in his Letters on 
Revivals, (page 2,) says : *^ With no greater degree 



248 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

of sanctifying influence than has been enjoyed for 
the last half century, (ending 1832,) which has been 
a comparatively favored period, the church could 
scarcely hold her own." How much less, then, in 
ordinary times. These statistics further show that 
many churches, in cities especially, lose more by 
death from year to year, than they add by profession ; 
and are sustained chiefly by additions by letter. 
They are among those churches which make no 
special effort for the conversion of men. Sixty-one 
churches in the nine principal cities of New England, 
in 1864, lost by death more than they gained upon 
profession. The body of Orthodox churches of 
Connecticut, lost in five years, ending 1864,480 by 
death more than they gained by profession. 

The General Conference of Maine in 1864, report- 
ed two hundred and thirty-seven churches, with a 
gain of only one hundred and sixty-two members 
over losses, or less than one to a church ; while the 
other ten churches, by extra efforts for a few weeks, 
added two hundred and seventy-two by profession, 
or twenty-seven to a church. 

The General Association of New Hampshire in 
1864, reported one hundred and eighty churches, 
with a gain of only twenty-three over losses, or one 
to every seven churches ; while the other three 
churches, by extra efforts^ gained by profession one 
hundred and forty-three over losses, which is more 
than three hundred per cent, in favor of '' extra 
efforts." 

The General Convention of Vermont, in 1864, 



REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS, 249 

reported one hundred and ninety-two churches, with 
a gain of only nineteen over losses, or one to every 
ten churches. 

The General Association of Massachusetts in 
1864, reported four hundred and seventy-four church- 
es, with a loss of eighty-four by death more than 
they gained by profession, while fifteen churches, 
that made extra efforts^ added, by profession, three 
hundred and seventy-seven over losses. 

The General Association of Connecticut, in 1864, 
reported a loss in five years, ending 1864, of four 
hundred and eighty more than they gained by pro- 
fession, there having been little or no *^ extra efforts'' 

According to statistics given in the tract of Dr. 
A. Wilbur, of Boston, a quarter of a century ago, 
and subsequently published in the appendix of Rev, 
Jacob Knapp's Autobiography, five Baptist churches 
in Boston, which employed the labors of an evangel- 
ist, and held special meetings at that time, gained, 
during four years, fifty-one per cent, on their mem- 
bership ; and excluded fifteen per cent. All the rest 
of the churches of the city gained thirteen and a half 
per cent., and excluded nineteen per cent. Statis- 
tics of the whole State of Massachusetts, covering a 
period of eight years, showed a gain of membership 
in eleven Baptist churches employing an evangelist, 
of thirty-one, and an exclusion of twenty-three per 
cent.; the rest of the churches of the State gaining 
a trifle over one per cent., and excluding twenty- 
eight and one-third per ccnt.*^' 

* The above is taken, mainly, from the paper of 1S66, whicli wf* 
referred lo. See, also, under " Revivals the Hope of the World/' 



250 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

From this brief survey, it is sufficiently evident that 
Sabbath services, in connection with frequent and pro- 
tracted '* special efforts," is the true gospel system of 
means for the conversion of men ; and, that all 
theories and opinions to the contrary, and all objec- 
tions to such efforts, are set aside by the authority 
of Christ and the apostles, and by the example of 
the primitive churches for three hundred years, and 
by the simple evidence of facts occurring among us 
at the present day. If these things are so, is it not 
the duty of the churches to address themselves to 
more continuous endeavors for the conversion of per- 
ishing mankind ? 

Having said thus much, some cautions are in 
place as to all protracted effort. The immediate aim 
should not be an excitement. Sad results have fol- 
lowed upon the track of preachers who have felt bound 
to get up a sensation, by foul means if they could 
not do it by fair. Oddity, noise, denunciation, attacks 
on private character, and everything to kindle the 
passions and set tongues in motion, are sometimes 
resorted to, to accomplish their object. The most 
deplorable effects have followed from such a policy. 

Dr. Porter makes some good points. ^* Let pro- 
tracted meetings never supercede the stated, ordi- 
nary means of grace. Let them not disturb the cus- 
tomary worship of the Sabbath, nor impede the 
regular action of a local ministry. Let churches be- 
ware that they do not contract a false taste for 
preaching from love of novelty and excitement ; and 



REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS. 



251 



after having heard a few extra sermons, complain of 
ordinary discourses, such as their own pastors can 
prepare amid the pressing engagements of a revival. 
And let them beware, too, that their religion does 
not degenerate into mere alternations of zeal and 
apathy/' 

Very sensible and weighty is a caution from Dr. 
Grififin as to neglect of prayer, rfe says : '* God for- 
bid that I should speak against protracted meetings ; 
but I will speak against their abuse. In this imper- 
fect world, it is almost impossible that such a stimu- 
lating institution should not be abused. It is so 
much easier to enter into the excitements of a pro- 
tracted meeting than to ^* tug at the oar of prayer** 
in secret, or even to exercise a holy heart, — so 
much easier to move the people by these impas- 
sioned forms than to bring down the Holy Ghost by 
the struggles of faith, — that there is the utmost 
danger that these meetings will be put in the room 
of secret prayer, and of the Holy Ghost, and even of 
personal religion. When I see them rehed on to 
produce revivals without previous prayer, and a 
boast made that Christians were stupid when they 
began ; when Isee a revival of ten days produce its 
hundred converts, and the people who were stupid 
before relapse into the same stupidity at the end of 
the protracted meeting, I cannot but say, How dif- 
ferent are these from the revivals of the last forty 
years, which were preceded by long agonies of desire 
and prayer, and which transmitted their spirit to 
many succeeding months.'* 



252 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



Many questions may arise as to conducting revi- 
val meetings^ which cannot in this place be noticed.^ 
Scripture truth should be very largely, and every way, 
inculcated. The more interest, the more instruction, 
should be the rule. When Bible truth is shunned or 
rejected, then, neither noise nor excitement, the 
thronged assembly nor the crowded anxious seat, 
can be relied upon as an evidence of a work of grace. 

Much more depends upon little things in revivals 
than is commonly supposed. As an illustration : 
Mr. Nettleton, used to advise the people at the close 
of his meetings to go home as still as possible — to 
say nothing to each other on the way about the 
sermon, or anything else, but to " commune with 
their own hearts and be still.'' 

Requests for prayer should always be encouraged. 
As we have seen elsewhere, in great revivals, such 
requests have been a prominent feature. 

Prayer meetings should hold a foremost place in 
all revival movements. It may be said that the re- 
vival of 1857-8 was mainly carried on by means of 
them. And the good sense exhibited in their man- 
agement is worthy of imitation. 

The converts may be helpful in carrying on a 
revival. On suitable occasions, let them relate 
briefly their religious exercises, exhort their impeni- 
tent companions, and lead in prayer in social meetings. 
This should, indeed, be managed with caution and 
skill ; but when it is properly conducted, it is a pow- 
erful auxiliary in extending a work of grace. 

* See under " Treatment of Inquirers." 



REVIVAL MEANS AND METHODS, 



253 



Concluding this chapter, we say to those called 
to lead in revivals, let them enter into their work 
pouring out the heart to God for a blessing. And 
whenever they see the want of any special means 
and methods to bring the truth more powerfully be- 
fore the minds of the people, let them adopt them and 
not be afraid ; and God will not withhold his blessing. 
Many a man has formed his plans in anticipation of 
a wished-for revival, but when it came, these were all 
swept away, and he felt he was just forced to do the 
Lord's work in the Lord's way. Christ will plead his 
own cause, and '^ Wisdom is justified of her children.'' 
There is no end to the objections of an ungodly 
world, and of carnal worldly professors. And one 
of the greatest errors to be dreaded, and watched 
and prayed against, is that of an excessive caution 
under the guise of prudence. 

Obviously, we are justified in being intent ^^ by all 
means" on *' saving some, pulling them out of the 
fire." The great thing is to work while God works. 
The sunshine, while it lasts, must be fervidly 
improved. The tide must be waited on, and all 
hands must be at work. The Philippian jailor was 
converted at midnight ; and Paul, once at least, con- 
tinued his speech until the same hour. So even by 
extraordinary measures we must be willing that men 
be saved from *^ the wrath to come." 

'' O Lord, Revive Thy Work." 



CHAPTER XL 

PREACHING AND REVIVALS. 

"PT'OREMOST among the instrumentalities for sav- 
ing men is the pulpit. ^' It pleased God by the 
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe/' 

But preaching is not alike effective. When God 
called Aaron to be high-priest, he said, as a reason, 
'^ I know that he can speak well.'* Of Paul and 
Barnabas it is written that ^' they so spake that a 
great multitude believed.'' Though a sovereign, yet 
the divine Being is not an arbitrary sovereign ; and 
it cannot be denied that there is some connection 
between the means and the end in powerful preach- 
ing. What would affect a man without the Spirit, 
we might expect to be employed by the Spirit to 
carry conviction to the heart. Otherwise the kind 
of preaching were a matter of entire indifference. 

Of Luther it was said each word was a thunder- 
bolt. We are told that when Venn preached men 
fell before the word like slacked lime. Baxter 
affirmed that he had reason to believe he never 
preached one sermon in vain. 

A prevailing defect in preaching is, that it is not 
aimed at the conversion of men. Doubtless there 
are other legitimate ends ; but this is not sufficiently 



PRE A CHING AND RE VI VALS. 



255 



a chief tnd. The thought may seem surprising, but 
there are multitudes of ministers, and deeply pious 
ones too, who never once in all their lives distinctly 
concentrated their purposes to the single point of con- 
verting men. It is related of two preachers that 
one had great success in bringing men to Christ ; the 
other, converting none. The latter inquired of the 
former what was the reason of this difference. 
'' Why,'* replied the other, '^ the reason is that I aim 
at a different end from you in preaching. My object 
is to convert sinners, but you aim at no such thing ; 
and then you lay it to sovereignty in God that you 
do not produce the same effect. Take one of my 
sermons, and preach it to your people, and see what 
the effect will be.'* The man did so, and preached 
the sermon, and it did produce effect ; and he was 
almost frightened when sinners became concerned. 
♦ If one would be successful in soul-saving, there 
must be that home-dealing which means conversion. 
The people must be plied from day to day with 
plain, faithful, scriptural preaching to them, and not 
merely before them. The conviction must be 
wrought on the mind that the preacher is in earnest ; 
that he means and feels what he says ; that, in the 
words of Baxter, he ^* never expects to meet one of 
them in heaven unless they be trtcly converted,'' 

The aim at bringing men to repentance, there- 
fore, would greatly intensify the power of our pulpits. 
It is more needed than anything else. The defen- 
sive outworks of Christianity are strong enough, and 
the thing to do is to assume the offensive, and ad- 



256 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

vance on the enemy, and *' shell/' him out of his 
intrenchments. Edwards said in his day : '* Men 
may abound in light and have no heat. How much 
has there been of this sort in the Christian world in 
this age ! Was there ever an age wherein strength 
and penetration of reason, extent of learning, exact- 
ness of distinction, correctness of style, and clearness 
of expression did so abound ? And yet was there 
ever an age wherein there has been so little sense of 
the evil of sin, so little love to God ? Our people 
do not so much need to have their heads stored, as 
to have their hearts touched." 

More sermons are needed which are made and 
meant to do execution : — sermons which grasp and 
make bare and wield some mighty idea, holding it 
up, and turning it around, and repeating it, if need 
be, as does Demosthenes the one main point in his 
oration on the Crown, until it becomes a palpable 
thing, and the audience y^^/ its form and pressure: 
— sermons having the *^ agonistical/' the wrestling 
element in them, as Aristotle calls it : — sermons put 
together on the principle that '^ force in writing 
consists in the maximum of sense with the minimum 
of w^ords,*' whose sentences are pounded together 
until they crack ; and where figure, trope, allegory, 
metaphor, antithesis, interrogation, anecdote — any- 
thing that can awaken interest and deepen impres- 
sion is resorted to : — sermons supported and sinewed 
with the "thus saith the Lord," and then charged 
with living truth, and aimed directly at the conscience 
and the heart, singling out each hearer, and saying, 



PREACHING AND REVIVALS. 257 

" Thou art the man^ and '^ I have a message from 
God unto thee ; '' and then making pursuit after that 
man, in clear, rapid, concentrated utterances, and 
pressing upon him, and narrowing his way, and hem- 
ming him in, and smiting him down with terrible 
volleys, until, quivering and breathless, he crouches 
between the law that condemns and the cross that 
saves. 

Before the world is converted to Christ there will 
be much more of this sort of preaching. 

It is highly instructive, in this connection, to 
study the preachers and preaching most blessed in 
revivals. These salient points are everywhere seen : 
— scripturalness in inatter, and plainness^ earnestness^ 
directness and fervency in application and appeal. 

The Reformers found the world in ignorance 
of scripture doctrine; — especially of free salvation 
through Christ. Their power was in wielding the 
cross. Luther, in Germany, preached justification 
by faith. Calvin taught it in Switzerland, and parts 
of France and Italy. Knox in this way extended 
the Reformation in Scotland. And wherever a spirit- 
ual change was wrought in England, it was effected 
through grace by the doctrine of ** Christ and him 
crucified." Whatever external form of organization 
^^ the church'* received, whether walking with the 
Establishment, or choosing to fall into the ranks of 
Dissent, its spiritual renovation occurred under the 
same truths. These were the truths which the Eng- 
lish reformers and their successors, for more than a 
hundred years inculcated on their hearers, and by 



258 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

them spiritual religion made conquests, and converts 
Avere multiplied. 

Whitfield and the Wesleys, at a later day, in the 
rise of *' Methodism " magnified these same doctrines, 
and by them wrought their glorious victories for 
Christ. 

The American preachers, in the early revivals, 
found the cardinal facts of regeneration by the Holy 
Ghost, and the necessity of a converted church-mem- 
bership, fallen into comparative neglect or contempt ; 
and their power was in giving them prominence. 
This was the mighty upheaving force in those great 
revivals. Edwards, with the clearness of a sunbeam, 
insisted much on justification by faith alone. And 
he says, ^' The beginning of the late w^ork of God 
in this place was so circumstanced, that I could not 
but look upon it as a remarkable testimony of God's 
approbation of the doctrine of justification by faith 
alone here asserted and vindicated. At that tinie^ 
while I was greatly reproached for defending this 
doctrine in the pulpit, and just upon my suffering a 
ver}'- open abuse for it, God's work wonderfully broke 
forth amongst us, and souls began to flock to Christ 
as the Saviour in whose righteousness alone they 
hoped to be justified." 

Seizing upon a resultant fact of this doctrine of 
justification by faith, ^Ir. Edwards wrote that terrible 
sermon, *^ Sinners in the hands of an angry God." 
He went down to Enfield and preached it there 
July 8th, 1741. While the people of the neighboring 
towns, says Trumbull, were in great distress about 



PREACHING AND REVIVALS, 259 

their souls, the inhabitants of Enfield were very 
secure, loose and vain. A lecture had been 
appointed there, and the neighboring people were so 
affected at the thoughtlessness of the inhabitants, 
and had so much fear that God would, in his 
righteous judgment, pass them by, that many of 
them were prostrate before him a considerable part 
of the previous evening, supplicating the mercy of 
heaven in their behalf. And when the time ap- 
pointed for the lecture came, a number of the sur- 
rounding ministers were present, as well as some 
from a distance — a proof of the prayerful interest 
felt on behalf of the town. Mr. Edwards chose for 
his text, the words, * Their feet shall slide in due 
time.* — Deut. xxxii. 35. When they went into the 
meeting-house, the appearance of the assembly was 
tlx)ughtless and vain ; the people scarcely conducted 
themselves with common decency. But as the 
sermon proceeded, the audience became so over- 
whelmed with distress and weeping, that the 
preacher was obliged to speak to the people and 
desire silence, that he might be heard. The excite- 
ment soon became intense; and it is said that a 
minister who sat in the pulpit with Mr. Edwards, in 
the agitation of his feelings, caught the preacher by 
the skirt of his dress, and said, ** Mr. Edwards ! Mr. 
Edwards! is not God a God of mercy?'* Many of 
the hearers were seen unconsciously clinging by 
their hands to the posts, and the sides of the 
pews, as though they already felt themselves sliding 
into the pit. This fact has often been mentioned as 



26o HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

a proof of the strong and scriptural character of 
Edwards' pecuHar eloquence — the eloquence of truth 
attended by the influence from heaven ; — for his ser- 
mons were read without gestures."^ 

Davies, of Virginia, saw more conversions under 
his ministry than did Edwards. He preached the 
sam.e truths, however, and with the same intense 
earnestness and unflinching fidelity. No one can 
read his published sermons without having his spirit 
stirred as with the sound of a trumpet. And under 
such breathing thoughts and burning words, multi- 
tudes bowed as before the majesty of God. 

It has been remarked upon as an interesting fact, 
that three such men as Jonathan Edwards, George 
Whitfield, and Samuel Davies should have been 
cotemporary. They differed widely in their charac- 
teristics ; but they were all ^^ sons of thunder.'* 
Davies was less logical than Edwards, and had less 
extemporaneous fluency than Whitfield ; but he 
exceeded them both in true eloquence. Edwards 
acted upon men through their understanding; Whit- 
field through their imagination and passions ; Davies 
through all the soul's avenues. He had such com- 
mand of ever}^ faculty and affection, that he swept the 
Avhole field of intellect and feeling. By fact, by 
argument, by description, by appeal, by entreaty, 
by expostulation, he addressed man's entire spiritual 
nature, and roused it from its lowest depths. Edwards 
caused men to think deeply, and Whitfield made 

* See the sermon, and criticisms, in Histoiy and Repository of 
Pulpit Eloquence, Vol. II. p. 395. 



PRE A CHING AND RE VIVALS. 26 1 

them feel strongly. But Davies accomplished both ; 
— awakening at once thought and emotion. 

The successful preachers in later revivals, pressed 
the consciences of men with the same truths and 
terrible earnestness as did their predecessors. Dr. 
Lyman Beecher, speaking of his preaching before a 
work of grace, says, '' My object was to cut and 
thrust, hip and thigh, and not to ease off. I had 
been working a good part of a year with my heart 
burning, and my people feeling nothing. Now I took 
hold without mittens." 

Says one, speaking from experience concerning 
the preaching of that day, *^ Oh how we smarted 
under it. I remember it well in my own case. We 
complained of some of Paul's hard sayings, and won- 
dered why our ministers dwelt so much upon them. 
We wanted to get to heaven in some easier way. 
But instead of abating one jot or tittle to relieve us, 
they pressed harder and harder, driving us from one 
refuge to another, till there was no hiding-place left. 
The law, which we had broken times without num- 
ber, we were made to feel was just ; its fiery penalty 
hung over our heads, and we must submit or die." 

Dr. Griffin's statement on this point is w^orthy 
of careful study : — the more so as he was a prince in 
pulpit oratory, and greatly blessed in revivals. He 
says: '^Sinners have been constantly urged to im- 
mediate repentance, and every excuse has been 
taken away. At the same time we have not denied 
or concealed their dependence for the sake of con- 
vincing them of their obligations. On the contrary, 



262 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

we have esteemed it vital to urge their dependence 
in order to drive them from all reliance on their own 
strength, and to make them die to every hope from 
themselves. All that you can possibly gain by 
flattering their independence, is to extort a confes- 
sion of their obligations ; for as to matter of fact, they 
will not submit until they are made willing in the 
day of God's power. And if you can fasten upon 
them their obligations without that falsehood which 
robs God of his glory, pray let it be done. This we 
have found it possible to do. We have shown them 
that their obligations rest on their faculties, and are 
as reasonable and as complete as though the thing 
required was merely to walk across the floor; that 
their faculties constitute a natural ability, that is, a 
full power to love and serve God, if their hearts were 
well disposed, leaving nothing in the way but a 
bad heart, for which they are wholly to blame if 
there is any blame in the universe ; that sin can rest 
nowhere but in the heart, and that if you drive it 
beyond the heart you drive it out of existence ; that 
they alone create the necessity for God to conquer 
them, and to decide whether he will conquer them 
or not ; that it is an everlasting blot on creation that 
God has to speak a second time to induce creatures 
to love him, much more that he has to constrain 
them by his conquering power ; and yet after all his 
provisions and invitations, — after he has sent his 
Son and his Spirit to save them, — after he has 
opened the door wide and stands with open arms to 
receive them, — they will still break their way to 



PRE A CHING A ND RE VI VA LS, 26^ 

perdition if his almighty power do not prevent ; that 
by their own fatal obstinacy they are cast entirely 
upon his will; that they are wholly in his hands, — 
that if he frown they die, if he smile they live for- 
ever. This is the grandest of all means to press 
them out of themselves, to cast them dead and help- 
less upon God, to make them die that they may be 
made alive/' 

At a later day came Nettleton, so highly hon- 
ored of God in soul-saving. In 1825 Rev. Mr. Cobb, 
(of Taunton, Mass.,) who heard him preach sixty 
times, gave a description of the man and his preach- 
ing to this effect : ^^ His sermons were clear, sound, 
able, full of thought, direct and simple, with unity 
of design. He seemed to be destined to be under- 
stood. As the revival progressed, he preached more 
and more closely and doctrinally. The great 
truths of the gospel, were the weapons of his war- 
fare, and were wielded with a spirit and an energy 
which the people were unable to gainsay or resist. 
He was remarkably clear and forcible in his illustra- 
tions of the sinner's total depravity, and his utter 
inability to procure salvation by unregenerate works, 
or any desperate efforts. He showed the sinner that 
his unregenerate prayers for a new heart, his impeni- 
tent seeking, striving and knocking would be of no 
avail ; and that absolute, unconditional subaiission 
to a sovereign God was the first thing to be done.'* 

In another description we are told that he was 
solemn, affectionate, and remarkably plain. His 
style was simple, perspicuous and energetic. His 



264 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

illustrations were familiar and striking ; such as ren- 
dered his discourses intelligible to persons of the 
weakest capacity, and at the same time interesting 
to persons of the most cultivated intellect. He 
always commanded the attention of the audience. 
There was an earnestness in his manner which car- 
ried conviction to the minds of his hearers that he 
believed what he spoke, and that he believed it to be 
truth of everlasting moment^ and there was also 
a directness in his preaching, which made the hearers 
feel that they were the persons addressed. 

While on a visit to Scotland, Dr. Nettleton 
preached in Edinburgh ; and during the sermon, 
while pressing home the high claims of the Almigh- 
ty, a woman who sat in a remote part of the house 
was so affected that, leaving her seat, and walking up 
in front of the pulpit, she spoke aloud, "" Dear sir, 
don't forget, that * God so loved the world that he 
gave his only begotten son, that whosoever beheveth 
on him might not perish, but have everlasting 
life.' '^ 

Among living preachers who are successful in 
leading souls to Christ, few are more blessed of God 
than Rev. A. B. Earle. It has been the writer's 
privilege to be with him in a series of meetings, and 
to know him intimately as a brother beloved. He 
has travelled in almost all parts of the country, and 
preached seventeen thousand sermons. On the mat- 
ter of '' Preaching and Revivals," such an exam- 
ple is deserving of study. It is often asked, ^* Where 
is his power?" We answer, obviously from God. 



PREACHING AND REVIVALS, 



265 



Like all good ministers of Jesus Christ, he lives 
in communion with the skies, and is invested with an 
energy more than human. As has been remarked 
of him, one can hardly be with him long without a 
persuasion that he loves God, and loves the gospel, 
and loves the souls of men — without a persuasion 
that with him '^ religion is the chief concern,'' and 
that it possesses his mind and heart and life. 

But he is also skilled in the work of an evangelist ; 
and his preaching, while apparently deficient in some 
elements of powxr, is eminently powerful. ^' It 
would be difficult/' writes Rev. Dr. Yerkes, of New 
Jersey, with whom he has labored successfully, "" to 
analyze his preaching ; yet considering its power I 
esteem it worthy of study. Doubtless it is largely 
adapted to revival work ; yet there is an element in 
it that would give power to all preaching. Where 
is that power ? We do not find it if we judge the 
preacher according to the schools ; and yet there are, 
I presume, men who have been trained in our 
schools, and possessed of scholastic attainm^ents of 
the highest order, who confess his power as a 
preacher of the gospel. He would not, perhaps, be 
regarded as a logical preacher, and yet no arrange- 
ment of logic could be better adapted to secure the 
results contemplated. The right thing is said in the 
right place and at the right time. His discourses 
arc rarely marked by that thoroughness of treatment 
which presents a complete picture, but they do im- 
press the hearer with the greatness of the truth 
preached, in a way that makes them thoroughly 



266 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

effective. Nor would Mr. Earle be considered an 
eloquent preacher ; yet he moves men as they are 
not often moved by public discourse. If we are* not 
charmed by eloquence of speech, we must confess 
the effects of true eloquence. Pascal says that elo- 
quence makes the hearer feel the theme as the orator 
himself feels it. Mr. Earle's preaching does produce 
that feeling. It is not an excitement, but deep feel- 
ing upon the most important subject which can en- 
gage the attention of mortals. Without the 
coherency of logic, his sermons are forceful. With- 
out the appearance of thoroughness, they are com- 
plete when considered in their adaptation to the end 
of preaching — which is not merely to mouth truth, 
but to impress it upon the heart.'' 

An eminent Methodist clergyman (Rev. Dr. 
Steele, of Mass.), writes, ** Having recently heard 
him preach thirty sermons in two weeks, and closely 
watched in order that I might find the secret of his 
power, I deem it due to the cause of Christ, espe- 
cially to his ministry, to report my observations. 
The hidings of his strength lie in his faith and philos- 
ophy. He has faith in God, simple, childlike, 
mighty trust. He is always praying-. Previous to 
every sermon he would call me into his room to 
kneel down by his side at Jesus' feet and seek power 
from on high. Often in the public assembly he 
would call on all the people to bow down in prayer 
for himself, that the Spirit would attend the word. 
He has faith in the truth, reading and expounding 
some portion of the Scriptures at every meeting. 



PRE A CHING A ND RE VI VA L S, 



267 



He reads the Bible as if he beheved every syllable 
and comma to be inspired of God. He dwells much 
upon the historical parts of the Old Testament and 
extracts the marrow of the gospel from what many 
modern preachers regard as dry bones. His simple 
aim is to set the unadorned truth before the mind 
utterly regardless of elegance of style. Though nat- 
urally witty, he conscientiously suppresses everything 
which would divert from the clearest and most im- 
pressive exhibition of divine truth. His illustra- 
tions are almost always drawn from the incidents of 
his ovv^n long experience as an evangelist. He 
dwells upon the terrors of the Lord, and never 
speaks of hell as *'the great elsewhere." Yet he 
holds up the sterner truths of the gospel no more 
frequently than did his Great Exemplar. In hsten- 
ing to him, one is strikingly convinced that the mod- 
ern evangelical pulpit has, within a generation, 
largely dropped out the law and its penalties, under 
the influence of an excessive sentimentalism which is 
leaking insensibly into the minds of Christians from 
the subtle skepticism which pervades the atmosphere. 
His fearless proclamation of the painful, and hence 
neglected truths of the Gospel, in contrast with that 
insensible softening down of these truths prevalent 
in the modern pulpit, is no small element of brother 
Earle's power." 

Rev. Dr. Richard Fuller, in the Religious Herald, 
Richmond, Va., in 1870, gave the following vivid de- 
scription of Mr. Earle and his preaching : 

'' VVc have heard Mr. Earle three times, and do 



268 ^^-^ ^^DB OK OF RE VI VA L S, 

not hesitate to pronounce him one of the ablest men 
we ever listened to. Some say, *'The secret of his 
power is in prayer." Certainly, and the secret of all 
spiritual power with men, is power with God. 
This was true not only of Paul, but of Jesus, the 
only perfect preacher. To the prayer of faith we 
apply what the apostle says of charity, '' Though I 
speak with the tongues of men or angels, and though 
I have all knowledge that 1 can explain all mysteries 
and do not pray with faith,*' it is all sounding brass 
and a tinkhng cymbal. '' He leads a holy hfe.'* 
Yes, but the success of one's ministry" is no proof of 
holiness ; it may be a fatal snare to the soul, as it 
was to those who said, '• Have we not prophesied,'' etc. 
A blind man may hold up a torch for others to walk 

by. 

'^ If these things are said as meaning that power 
in prayer and holiness are less than eloquence, they 
are even more wicked than foolish. If they are 
intended as deductions from Mr. Earle's character as 
a sacred orator, they betray a sad misconception, we 
humbly conceive, as to the real elements of power in 
a preacher. His very appearance draws reverent at- 
tention. There is not a particle of that self-conscious- 
ness which sometimes shows itself in an affected 
simplicity and naturalness, in the awkward attempt to 
be easy, to put out the hand gracefully, to modulate 
the voice artistically. He plainly forgets himself; 
and before he has uttered twenty words, the people 
forget the man as completely as Peter was forgotten 



PRE A CHING AND RE VIVALS. 269 

on the day of Pentecost ; they are engrossed with 
the truths he is proclaiming. 

" Brother Earle's intellectual endowments are 
remarkable ; and would at once be felt were he at 
the bar or in Congress. The closest reasoning, the 
most natural wit and humor; a lively imagination, a 
correct taste ; an intuitive insight into human nature ; 
resources of strong native Saxon, of warm, gushing 
emotions, of incident and narrative and illustration 
drawn from every quarter^ — these attributes and advan- 
tages he possesses and uses without any effort, and 
with the entire self-possession which ever accompa- 
nies the sense of power. And even all this is com- 
paratively little. The one grand peculiarity in all 
truly great men is thorough earnestness. On some 
summer's afternoon we have sat admiring the beau- 
tiful sheets of lightning which, now with one broad 
rosy suffusion, and then with white and yellow 
corruscations, illumined the sombre clouds piled 
up along the horizon. Afterwards the heavens 
have gathered blackness, and the living thunder 
has leaped from crag to crag, and the flowing 
bolt has shivered the solid oak in its resistless 
course. The difference between the electric fluid in 
its cold, ineffectual splendors, and that same clement 
in its concentrated energy, is not too strong an illus- 
tration of the force of real earnestness in a preacher, 
compared with those graces and accomplishments 
which are often called sacred eloquence. 

" Of McCheyne, a Scotch woman said, ^* He 
preaches as if he is a dyin' a'most to have ye con- 



2 -JO ^'-^ XDBQ OK OF RE VI f \4 L S. 

verted/' Mr. Earle preaches just in that way. A 
man who beheves what he says must be powerful. 
Our brother beheves what he says. Do ministers 
read the Bible much ? We fear not. ]\Ir. Earle 
studies the Bible, and really believes God's testi- 
mony. Hence he is full of ** divine simplicity." 
Hence too his soul is ever at a white heat, and yet 
perfectly calm. And all this earnestness is in- 
wrought in his heart and diffused through his pulses 
to the finger-ends, by a faith which never falters, by 
a love^a sympathy which often melts him into an 
agony of tears, and by the power of the Holy Spirit 
who never disappoints the soul which hangs in utter 
dependence on him." 

From the foregoing, we have already an idea of 
the preaching which is adapted to awaken and save 
souls. For this reason the above examples are 
given. We may crystallize the essential elements 
of effective revival preaching into a few points. 

God is lionored in all powerful preaching. ** He 
makes God look big ; '' was the remark of a plain par- 
ishioner of one of the old style of New England di- 
vines. Evidently, God will honor that which honors 
him. *' I have found," says Edwards, *' that no dis- 
courses have been more remarkably blessed than 
those in which the doctrine of God's absolute sove- 
reignty with regard to the salvation of sinners, and 
his just liberty with regard to answering the prayers 
or succeeding the pains of mere natural men, con- 
tinuing such, have been insisted on. 



PREACHING AND REVIVALS, 



271 



The trulh is honored in effective preaching. 
We find an illustration of this in the labors of Rev. 
E. P. Hammond, evangelist. It is a marked feature 
in his meetings that he reads and comments upon 
the Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments ; often 
giving a wonderful freshness and vividness to scenes 
and incidents and utterances there recorded. In his 
sermons, too, he deals largely in the true sayings 
of God. Rev. Jacob Knapp's heavy blows are often 
simply solid Scripture utterances. The same is true 
of Rev. J. S. Inskip, the Methodist evangelist. 

We have already seen the same thing in the 
preachers of other days. Strong preachers have 
ever been Bible-preachers. The sermons of Bunyan, 
and Baxter, and Flavcl, and men of their stamp, 
were full of God — instinct with living doctrines. 
Their very garb was after the Scripture pattern. 
Of Chalmers it has been said that his sermons 
^* held the Bible in solution.'* A peculiar energy at- 
tends the divine word. It is the " sword of the Spir- 
it;" the ''fire, and the hammer that breaketh the 
rock in pieces.'* It is *' quick and powerful, and 
sharper than any two-edged sword." It is "perfect, 
converting the soul," and *' making wise the simple.*' 
*' I will hazard the assertion," says Fisher Ames, 
** that no man ever did, or ever will become truly elo- 
quent without being a constant reader of the Bible, 
and an admirer of the purity and sublimity of its 
language." 

The Bible is the battery through which the Holy 
Spirit illuminates and saves. If one would have a 



2/2 



HAXDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



felt power, let him keep these thunders rolling 
through the souls of the auditory. 

Timeliness and adaptation are necessar}^ to effect- 
iveness in preaching. It needs special preaching to 
secure special ends. At the beginning of a revival, 
the preaching especially should be to Christians, 
urging upon them their obligations. Suppose a 
minister at such a time to bring before his people 
that fundamental truth in all religion — the existence 
of God, and to attempt, by a process of reasoning, 
to vindicate it against the objections of atheism ; or 
suppose he were to discuss, in an elaborate manner, 
the historical evidence of Christianity; — this, in 
certain circumstances, would be very proper ; but it 
would be ill adapted to awaken saints and guide 
souls to Christ : and so out of place now. 

All successful revival preachers are thorough with 
the church in what may be called preparatory 
work. And as a rule, revivals are deep and thorough 
in proportion to the thoroughness of the preaching 
at the outset. 

While, however, there should be great plainness 
in preaching to Christians, there should be great 
kindness and tenderness in doing it. President Ed- 
wards deplored a style of preaching which censured 
professed Christians as unconverted, because they 
did not come up to the work. He terms it " the 
w^orst disease** that attended the revival, and alto- 
gether contrar}'- to the spirit of the gospel. Mr. 
Earle tells of a most interesting experience which 
he once had on this point. In beginning a series of 



PREACHING AND REVIVALS. 



273 



union meetings, he thought himself fully prepared, 
and expected immediate results. ^^ My first aim,'* 
he says, " was to preach so as to lead the churches 
nearer to Christ. Accordingly, I prepared five ser- 
mons for Christians, as clear and pointed as I knew 
how to make them. The first four had no apparent 
effect. I wondered at it. The fifth was prepared 
with a scorpion in the lash. It was a severe one, and 
the last harsh sermon I have preached, and the last 
I ever expect to preach : but this, too, was power- 
less. I then went to my closet, and there on my 
knees asked Jesus what could be the difficulty 
with those Christians. It did not enter my mind 
that the trouble could be anywhere else than among 
them, I had preached with tears in my eyes, and 
been anxious to see a revival, and had no thought 
but that the preacher was in a right state. But 
there in my closet God revealed to me my own heart, 
showing me that the difficulty was with myself y and 
not with the church ; I found myself as cold as 
those I was trying to benefit. My tears, even in the 
pulpit, had been like water running from the top of 
a cake of ice when the warm rays of the sun are 
falling upon its surface, but which becomes hard 
and cold again as soon as the sun goes down. I 
told the pastor of what I had discovered, and asked 
him the condition of his own heart. He frankly 
confessed that he was in the same state as my- 
self. 

** We prayed together several times. I felt that 
I could not live in that state and accomplish much. 



274 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



Accordingly, I went home and shut myself in my 
room, resolved to spend the night in prayer if neces- 
sary. O, the struggle of that night ! Hour after 
hour I wrestled alone with God. My heart had 
been full of coldness, and I not aware of it. No 
wonder the churches had not come up to the work ! 
I renewedly and repeatedly gave myself to the 
Saviour, determined not to let the angel depart until 
my heart was filled and melted with the love of 
Jesus. Towards morning the victory came. The 
ice was all broken, melted, and carried away ; the 
warmth and glow of my ^^ first love '' filled my heart ; 
the current of feeling was changed and deepened ; 
the joy of salvation was restored. In the morning 
I went out, took the unconverted by the hand, and 
said the same things as on days previous ; but now 
they were melted to tears over their sin and danger. 
I prepared and preached another sermon to the 
churches — no lash, nothing harsh about it. They 
broke down, confessed their own need of a special 
preparation of heart, and gave themselves anew to 
the work, which, from that hour, went forward rapidly 
and successfully.'* 

Wisdom and skill are elements of effective 
preaching. ^* He that winneth souls is wise.*' For 
example, it is important to see when a point is made, 
and to follow up an impression — blow upon blow. 
It was said of a great commander, *' he knew how 
to take advantage of a victory.'* A successful leader 
in revivals will both know how to make opportunities 
(under God) and to take advantage of them. He 



PREACHING AND REVIVALS, 275 

will both make the iron hot by striking, and strike 
while it is hot. 

Moreover, in his sermons and in the general 
management of the work, while he does not wait for 
happy junctures, he will yet be quick to improve 
them when they offer. 

On one occasion, as Mr. Whitfield was preaching 
in Boston, a violent storm of thunder and lightning 
came on. In the midst of the sermon, it attained so 
alarming a height that the congregation sat in almost 
breathless awe. The preacher closed his note-book, 
and stepping into one of the wings of the desk, fell 
on his knees, and with much feeling and fine taste 
repeated : 

" Hark, the Eternal ren(}^ the sky ! 
A mighty voice before him goes — 
A voice of music to his friends, 
But threatening thunder to his foes. 

Come, children, to your Father's arms ; 
Hide in the chambers of his grace, 
Till the fierce storm be overblown. 
And the avenging f^ry cease ! " 

Then he said, ^^ Let us devoutly sing to the praise 
and glory of God this hymn, to Old Hundred.** The 
whole congregation instantly rose, and poured forth 
the sacred song^ in which they were accompanied by 
the organ, in a style of simple grandeur and heartfelt 
devotion that was probably never surpassed. By 
the time the hymn was finished the storm was 
hushed. The remainder of the services were well 
adapted to sustain the elevated feeling which had 



276 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



been produced ; and the benediction with which the 
good man dismissed the flock was universally received 
wdth streaming eyes, and hearts overflowing with 
tenderness and love. 

Rev. James Caughey, a noted Methodist evangel- 
ist, relates a case where he was preaching day after 
day, with no distinct results, until one night, just as 
the audience were about to retire, a terrific thunder- 
storm burst upon the place. The windows of the 
church were unusually large, and they appeared all 
in a blaze, from the effect of the lightning. The 
storm raged in fury ; and one of the preachers began 
to exhort, and wielded with power that passage in 
the eleventh Psalm, — '' Upon the wicked he shall 
rai7i snares^ fire and brimstone^ and an horrible tem- 
pest ; this shall be the* portion of their cupT Thus, 
while God thundered and lightened outside, his 
minister did the same within. It was a scene of 
terror and awful grandeur, and sinners began to 
tremble and weep and pray. Still the storm con- 
tinued, with peals of loudest thunder, which w^ere re- 
echoed by successive appeals to the consciences of 
men. Nothing was heard but, — 

" See the storm of vengeance gathering 
O'er the path you dare to tread ; 
Hear the awful thunder rolling, 
Loud and louder, o'er your head ! " 

And this was attended by the deep and subdued 
groans of sinners, slain by the sword of the Spirit. 
It was a help in time of need ; and victory from 
the Lord of hosts began with that hour/' 



PREACHING AND REVIVALS, 



277 



It has been said of Dr. Nettleton that he was 
preeminently a wise man ; able to see the relations 
and tendencies of things^ and to adapt means to 
ends, so as seldom to fail of an object desired. A 
distinguished clergyman who had been intimately 
acquainted with his history for several years, and 
who had noticed with admiration the skill with 
which he formed and executed his plans for doing 
good, exclaimed, *^ He is the wisest man I ever knew." 

I?ite72se yearni7tg iov souls is a condition of pow- 
erful preaching. Whitfield was remarkable for this. 
It spoke in his manner, his looks, his words. ** I 
love those that thunder out the word,'* he said ; 
^' the Christian world is in a deep sleep, and nothing 
but a loud voice can awaken them out of it." A 
certain baronet said to a friend, '^ Mr. B., this Whit- 
field is truly a great man, — he is the founder of a new 
reHgion." 

'^ A new religion;, sir ! " exclaimed Mr. B. 

" Yes," said the baronet, ^' what do yotc call it?" 

*' Nothing,'' rejoined the other, '' but the old reli- 
gion revived with energy, and heated as if the minis- 
ter really meant what he said.'' 

It is said that Whitfield would sometimes rise in 
the pulpit, and for a minute or two, looking in silence 
around his vast audience, as if salvation or perdition 
teemed in every cast of his eye, would burst into 
tears ; while the swift contagion reached every heart 
that could feel, and dimmed every eye that could 
weep. There was pleading for souls in his very 
looks. And it was the gushing of a full heart. 



278 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



Of Rowland Hill it is related that while once 
preaching, he was carried aw^ay by the impetuous 
rush of his feelings, and raising himself to his full 
stature, he exclaimed, " Beware ! I am in earnest ! 
INIen call me an enthusiast ; but I am not ; mine are 
words of truth and soberness. When I first came 
into this part of the country, I was walking on yon- 
der hill. I saw a gravel pit fall in and bury three 
human beings alive. I lifted up my voice for help, 
so loud that I was heard in the town below, a dis- 
tance of a mile. Help came and rescued two of the 
poor sufferers. No one called me an enthusiast then. 
And when I see eternal destruction ready to fall 
upon poor sinners, and about to entomb them irre- 
coverably in an eternal mass of woe, and call on 
them to escape, shall I be called an enthusiast ? " 

In Vincent's little book ^' God's terrible Voice in 
the City," is a description of the preaching of the 
few faithful ministers who staid at their posts during 
the great plague and fire in London. These men 
lifted up their voices like a trumpet, and spared not. 
Every sermon might be their last. Graves were ly- 
ing open around them ; life seemed now not merely 
a handbreadth, but a hairbreadth ; death was nearer 
now than ever; eternity stood out in all its vast re- 
ality; souls were felt to be precious; opportunities 
were no longer to be trifled aw^ay ; every hour pos- 
sessed a value beyond the wealth of kingdoms ; the 
world was now a passing, vanishing shadow; and 
man's days on earth had been cut down from three- 
score years and ten into the twinkling of an eye. 



PRE A CHING A ND RE VI VA L S, 



279 



'^ Oh, how they preached ! No poHshed periods, no 
learned arguments, no labored paragraphs chilled 
their appeals, or rendered their discourses unintelli- 
gible. No fear of man, no love of popular applause, 
no overscrupulous dread of strong expressions, no 
fear of excitement or enthusiasm, prevented them 
from pouring out the whole fervor of their hearts, 
that yearned with tenderness unutterable over dying 
souls/' ^' Old Time/' says Vincent, " seemed to stand 
at the head of the pulpit, with his great scythe, say- 
ing, with a hoarse voice, ' Work while it is called to- 
day : at night I will mow thee down ! ' Grim Death 
seemed to stand at the side of the pulpit with his 
sharp arrow, saying, ^ Do thou shoot God's arrows, 
or I will shoot mine!' The Grave seemed to lie 
open at the foot of the pulpit, saying — 

" Here thou must lie — 
Mouth stopped, 
Breath gone, 
And silent in the dust." 

Truly were ministers in earnest then — no cold- 
ness, no languor, no studied oratory. They preached 
as dying 7nen to dying men^ in very deed. And what 
an added power there would be in our pulpits if all 
ministers preached like this ! 

If a minister, then, through the blessing of God, 
would be powerful in converting men, let him eschew 
the idea of preaching for the mere purpose of 
preaching. Let him prepare and preach his dis- 
courses with a straight aim ! Prcttincss is not in 



28o HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

place in the pulpit ; certainly not in a revival. It is 
not the highest ideal of a sermon that it is precise 
and dignified, and offends nobody's taste! Foster 
complained of Blair that he kept his thoughts so 
long standing to be dressed, that they were chilled 
through before leaving his hands. Sermons may be 
elaborated till they are spoiled. They may be so 
'' perfect '' as to be perfectly worthless ! They may 
be 

" correctly cold, and correctly dull. 

Faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly null." 

Tholuck would call these literary properties 
^Mried sweetmeats in a glass jar." Such sermons 
are good enough to lay away as embalmed beauties, 
but they are totally unfit to be preached to a living 
congregation. Souls never cry out under them. 
When ministers are full of the Holy Ghost they do 
not preach thus. They cannot do it. The moment 
they are in earnest they preach in any way rather 
than this. And many a revival has been checked, 
and prematurely brought to a close, by not preach- 
ing plain, and homely, and solemn truths in a weighty 
and downright earnest manner. 

Especially will one skilled in soul-saving press 
the consciences of his hearers. Rather than 

" Smooth down the stubborn text to ears polite, 
And snugly keep damnation out of sight,'* 

he will rally all his strength and lay siege to the sinner, 
and thunder at the door of the heart. When Popi- 
lius, by order of the Roman senate, required Antio- 



PREACHING AND REVIVALS, 281 

chus to withdraw his army from the King of Egypt, 
and he desired time to dehberate, the haughty 
Roman drew a circle about him with his wand, and 
said, ^'7/2 hocstans delibera ; " — '^ In this standing-place 
deliberate!'' i.e., Answer before you move! Thus 
must men be pressed to an immediate surrender to 
the demands of Almighty God. 

Above all, if one would have power over men, he 
must himself be holy. It is ^' not by might, nor by 
power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." A ser- 
mon may be constructed after the best models; it 
may conform to all the rules of homiletics ; the text 
may be suitable and fruitful ; the plan may be fault- 
less ; the execution may discover genius and judg- 
ment; there may be accurate analysis and strong 
reasoning ; proof and motive ; solidity and beauty ; 
logic and passion ; argument direct and indirect ; 
perspicuity, purity, correctness, propriety, precision ; 
description, antithesis, metaphor, allegory, compari- 
son ; motives from goodness, motives from happiness, 
motives from self-love ; appeals to the sense of the 
beautiful, the sense of right, to the affections, the 
passions, the emotions ; — a sermon may be all this, 
and yet that very sermon, even though it fell from 
the lips of a prince of pulpit oratory, were as power- 
less in the renewal of a soul as in raising the dead, 
if unaccompanied by the omnipotent energy of the 
Holy Ghost. "The secret of the Lord is with them 
that fear him ; and he will show them his covenant." 

*^0 Lord,. Revive Thy Work!" 



CHAPTER XII. 

PRAYER AND REVIVALS. 

T3 EVIVALS are born of prayer. The prayers of 
Elijah wrought a reformation in Israel, and pre- 
vented a perpetual going away into idolatry. Mourn- 
ing over the prevailing declension, and seeing that 
nothing short of severe judgments would save the 
guilty nation, he prayed that it might not rain ; and 
God shut up the heavens for the space of three years 
and six months. When the people relented and were 
properly humbled, he prayed again, and the awful 
calamity was turned back. 

At a later day, the prayers of the good King 
Hezekiah were the means of reclaiming the nation 
from the brink of destruction. The monstrous im- 
pieties of his father Ahaz, had culminated in cutting 
to pieces the sacred utensils of the house of God, 
and shutting up its doors; while idol shrines were 
built in every city of Judah. These Hezekiah de- 
stroyed. And then he opened the house of God, 
and had the priests reconsecrated, and assembled 
all Israel, and they held a fourteen days* meeting, 
and separated themselves from their sins. Thus the 
Lord '' hearkened unto Hezekiah, and healed the 
people.'* 



PRA YER AND REVIVALS, 



283 



Coming to the Pentecostal refreshing, we find it 
preceded by more than a week's special and earnest 
supplications to God for the promised Spirit. 

There is also a volume of meaning in that pro- 
posal of the apostles to the first Christians, when 
they called them to the choice of deacons. ^' But 
we will give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry 
of the word.'' ' Prayer, they doubtless meant, in the 
high and holy sense of the word. They sought 
strength for their work, and wisdom rightly to divide 
the word of truth to every man, and holy love to 
give fervency, fidelity, and power to their ministra- 
tions. 

The first ministers, therefore, were eminently 
men of prayer ; they lived at the footstool of the 
throne of grace. Of the apostle James it is said that 
after his death his knees were found to be callous, 
like a camel's knees, from his much kneeling. The 
patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, reformers, 
were the mighty men that they were because they 
had callous knees. 

Gregory of Nazianzen speaks for the early Chris- 
tians, in his exclamation touching the defeat of the 
emperor's wicked schemes: *^ How many myriads 
and squadrons of men were there whom wc, by our 
simple praying, and God willing, discomfited." 

^^ From our closet to the church : from our knees 
to the pulpit," was the motj:o of several of the Re- 
formers. 

John Knox was a man so famous for his power in 
prayer that bloody Queen Mary used to say she feared 



284 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



his prayers more than all the armies of Europe. And 
events showed that she had reason to do it. He 
often was in such an agony for the deliverance of 
his country that he could not sleep. He had a place 
in his garden where he used to go to pray. One night 
he and several friends were praying together, and as 
they prayed, Knox spoke and said that deliverance 
had come. He could not tell what had happened, 
but he felt that something had taken place, for God 
had heard their prayers. The next news they had 
was that Mary was dead. 

Here is an example of how John Knox prayed : 
*^ O Lord, give me Scotland, or I die ! '' Then a 
pause of hushed stillness ; when again the petition 
broke forth: "' O Lord, give me Scotland, or I die!'* 
Once more all w^as voiceless ; when, w^ith a yet in- 
tenser pathos, the thrice-repeated intercession strug- 
gled forth : '' O Lord, give me Scotland, or I die ! '* 
And God gave him Scotland, a land and church of 
noble Christian loyalty to Christ and his crown. 

Luther would sometimes pray with such humble 
boldness, as to lead him to lay down a promise before 
God, and say, *^ Now Lord, there is thy word ; if thou 
dost not keep it I will never believe thee again ! '' A 
spy upon Luther followed him to a hotel, and slept 
in a room adjacent to that of the Reformer. He 
told his employer next day that Luther prayed 
nearly all night, and that he could never .conquer a 
man who prayed like that. 

On a certain occasion, a messenger was sent to 
Luther to inform him that Melancthon was dying. 



PRAYER AND REVIVALS. 285 

He at once hastened to his sick-bed, and found him 
presenting the usual premonitory symptoms of 
death. He mournfully bent over him ; and sobbing, 
gave utterance to a sorrowful exclamation. It roused 
Melancthon from his stupor; he looked into the 
face of Luther, and said, '' O Luther, is this you ? 
Why don't you let me depart in peace?" ^^ We 
can't spare you yet, Philip," was the reply. And 
turning round, he threw himself upon his knees, and 
wrestled with God for his recovery for upwards of 
an hour. He went from his knees to the bed, and 
took his friend by the hand. Again, he said, ** Dear 
Luther, why don't you let me depart in peace?" 
" No, no, Philip, we cannot spare you yet from the 
field of labor," was the reply. He then ordered 
some soup, and when pressed to take it, he declined, 
saying again : "• Dear Luther, why will you not let 
me go home, and be at rest?" ''We cannot spare 
you yet, Philip," was the reply. He then added: 
*' Philip, take this soup, or I will excommunicate 
you ! " He took the soup, and soon commenced to 
grow better ; and finally regained his wonted health, 
and labored for years afterwards in the cause of the 
Reformation. When Luther returned home he said 
to his wife, '' God gave me back my brother Melanc- 
thon in direct answer to prayer.'' 

The good John Welsh, of Ayr, Scotland, whose 
harvests of souls were so great, from the beginning 
of his ministry to its close, reckoned the day ill-spent 
if he staid less than seven or eight hours before the 
throne in fervent prayer. On going to rest he used 



286 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

to lay a plaid above his bedclothes, so that when he 
arose to his night-prayers he might cover himself 
with it. Sometimes he would retire to the church, 
which was at a little distance from the town, and 
" not find it an irksome soHtude to pass the whole 
night there in prayer." 

Mr. Bruce, about the time of Welsh's removal to 
Ayr, commenced his ministry in Edinburgh. Kirk- 
ton describes the power of his preaching in the 
following words : ** He made always an earthquake 
under his hearers, and rarely preached but to a 
weeping auditory/* A little incident lets us at once 
into the secret of Bruce's power and pathos in the pul- 
pit. At Larbot, where he frequently preached, he 
used after the first service to retire to a chamber near 
the church. Some noblemen having once come far 
to hear him, became impatient from his delay in 
returning to church, and sent the bell-man to hearken 
at his door if there were any appearance of his 
coming. The bell-man returned and said, *' I think 
he will not come out this day, at all ; for I hear him 
always saying to another, that he cannot go except 
the other go with him ; and I don't hear the other 
answer him a word.'' 

In other places in this book we have referred to 
the wonderful revival in Shotts, (Scotland) in 1630. 
We recur to it for the purpose of showing the 
relation ^\{\q\\ prayer had to it. The circumstance 
that several of the then persecuted ministers would 
take a part in the solemn services having become 
generally known, a vast concourse of godly persons 



PRAYER AND REVIVALS. 



287 



assembled on this occasion from all quarters of the 
country, and several days were spent iii social prayer y 
preparatory to the service. In the evening, instead 
of retiring to rest, the multitude divided themselves 
into little bands, and spent the whole night in suppli- 
cation and praise. The Monday was consecrated to 
thanksgiving, a practice not then common, and 
proved the great day of the feast. After much 
entreaty, John Livingston, chaplain to the Countess 
of Wigtown, a young man and not ordained, agreed 
to preach. He had spent the night in prayer and 
conference — but as the hour of assembling ap- 
proached, his heart quailed at the thought of ad- 
dressing so many aged and experienced saints, and 
he actually fled from the duty he had undertaken. 
But just as the kirk of Shotts was vanishing from his 
view, these words, *^ Was I ever a barren wilderness 
or aland of darkness? '* were borne in upon his mind 
with such force as compelled him to return to the 
work. He took for his text Ezekiel, xxxvi. 25, 26 — 
and discoursed with power for about two hours. 
Five hundred conversions were believed to have 
occurred under that one sermon, thus prefaced by 
prayer. 

Of Richard Baxter it has been said that he stained 
his study-walls with praying breath ; and after be- 
coming thus anointed with the unction of the Holy 
Ghost, he sent a river of living water over Kidder- 
minster. 

Whitfield once thus prayed, "' O Lord, give me 
souls or take my soul." After much closet-pleading 



288 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

*' he once went to the devil's fair and took more than 
a thousand souls out of the paw of the lion in a sin- 
gle day/' 

In reading the marvels wrought by Whitfield, 
the Wesleys, and their co-workers, we do not suffi- 
ciently appreciate the straits to which they were 
driven, and how utterly they were thrown back on 
the Almighty, and made to take hold upon his 
strength. Denied the pulpits, and discarded by all 
except "^ the common people," their souls caught 
new zeal and devotion from new extremities and 
new trials. Wesley describes a scene which reminds 
us of the preparatory Pentecostal baptism by which 
the apostles were ^' endued with power from on 
high," for their mission. He says, January i, 1739, 
that Messrs. Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, Whitfield, and 
his brother Charles were present with him at a love- 
feast in Fetter-lane, with about sixty of their breth- 
ren. About three in the morning , as they were con- 
tinuing instant in prayer ^ the power of God came 
mightily upon them, insomuch that many cried out 
for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground. As 
soon as they had recovered a little from the awe and 
amazement which the presence of the divine Majesty 
had inspired, they broke out with one voice, '^ We 
praise thee, O God ; we acknowledge thee to be the 
Lord." Whitfield exclaims : '' It was a Pentecostal 
season, indeed." And he adds, respecting these 
*^ Society meetings," that '^ sometimes whole nights 
were spent in prayer. Often have we been filled as 
with new wine, and often have I seen them over- 



PR A YER AND REVIVALS, 



289 



whelmed with the Divine Presence, and cry out, 
* Will God, indeed, dwell with men upon earth ? 
How dreadful is this place ! This is no other than 
the house of God, and the gate of heaven ! ' *' 

Edwards' powerful sermon at Enfield is remarked 
upon in the next previous chapter of this work. 
Bishop Simpson once asked the writer for an opinion 
as to the secret of that sermon's astonishing effect 
upon the audience. The same question has often 
been asked. Upon a careful analysis, it is not difficult 
to point out several elements of the highest effective- 
ness. But back of this there was a mighty agency, 
discoverable in the fact that some Christians in the 
vicinity had become alarmed lest while God was 
blessing other places, he should in anger pass them 
by ; and so they jnet on the eve7iing preceding the 
preaching of that ser^non^ and spent the whole niglit 
in agonizing prayer. 

And Edwards himself reveals the same source of 
power in those days, when he says, ^^ The spirit of 
those that have been in distress for the souls of 
others, so far as I can discern, seems not to be differ- 
ent from that of the apostle who travailed for souls, 
and was ready to wish himself accursed from Christ 
for them : and that of the Psalmist in saying, * Hor- 
ror hath taken hold upon me, because of the wicked 
that forsake thy law.' '' 

Prayers like these would be expected to produce 
astonishing results. 

The connection between prayer and the more 
modern revivals is equally apparent. About 1795, 
i3 



290 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



a quarterly concert of prayer began to be observed by 
some churches in Connecticut and New Jersey. At a 
later period, a family co7icert of prayer was adopted 
somewhat extensively, and attended weekly, from 
September to March, on Saturday evening, the hour 
after sunsetting ; and from March to September, on 
Sabbath evening, the hour before sunsetting. And 
later still, was observed a sacramental concert^ which 
returned with the regular seasons of preparation for 
the Lord's Supper; and the female prayer-meetings^ 
which are now so common, and which have been at- 
tended with most important results to the church. 
These meetings for prayer, in the forms above men- 
tioned, were adapted to inspire Christians with that 
spirit which Mr. Mills so often enjoined, ^* Let us 
live looking upwards'' 

Drs. Griffin, of N. J., Spring, of N. Y., and Hyde, 
of Massachusetts, about this time narrative the 
power of prayer in connection with revivals. 

Dr. Lyman Beecher thus writes from Connecti- 
cut : *^ One day, old Deacon Miller, a holy man, sent 
for me. He was sick in bed. *I am glad to see 
you,' he said. * I know how you feel. You must 
not be discouraged. I lie on my bed at night and 
pray for you. Tve been praying for all in the village. 
I begin at one end, and go into the next house, and 
then into the next, till I have gone round ; and then 
I have not prayed enough, so I begin and go round 
again.* I went home expecting ; and word was sent 
from the Springs that the Lord had come down on 
the previous Sunday, and that a meeting was ap- 



PRAYER AND REVIVALS, 



2gi 



pointed for Tuesday evening, and that I must not 
disappoint them. Then I went to the Northwest, and 
the Lord was there ; then to Ammigansett, and the 
Lord was there ; and the flood was rolHng all around. 
Oh what a time that was ! There were a hundred 
converts, nearly, who most of them stood fast.'* 

It is well known that many of the most success- 
ful evangelists, since the time of Whitfield and tha 
Wesleys, have been noted for their prayerfulness. 
One says of Nettleton that he was eminently a man 
oi prayer. Entering the pulpit, or the inquiring 
meeting, one could witness a holy calm, and inde- 
scribable, almost unearthly solemnity and earnestness 
of manner, which gave evidence of his having come 
directly from the *' mount of communion.*' Jabez 
Swan, and Jacob Knapp, and others, will recur to 
many minds as examples of power 171 prayer 

Rev. Dr. Steele, (of Boston) says of Mr. Earle : 
*^ His philosophy of conversion is exactly that of Dr. 
Durbin. No soul is ever converted except as some 
believer has painfully travailed in birth for that soul. 
Hence, there will be simultaneous conversions when 
many Christians are pleading with God in pain and 
distress of soul. The church is the bride of Christ 
and the mother of his children. Hence Christians 
are exhorted to wrestle with God till they are bowed 
to the dust with a burden for the salvation of lost 
men. They are told, even though they talk much 
of ** the higher life," and *' rest in Jesus," that 
there is a radical defect in their piety if they arc 
content with easy prayers and with the delicious* 



292 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



ecstasies of divine love, and are not in tears and 
pain of heart, pulling souls out of the fire. And Mr. 
Earle himself lives in keeping with that which he 
enjoins upon others/' 

We mention several other specific cases showing 
how revivals originate in prayer. An aged saint 
once came to his pastor at night and said, ^' We are 
about to have a revival." He was asked why he 
knew so. His answer was, *' I went into the stable, 
to take care of my cattle two hours ago, and there 
the Lord has kept me in prayer until just now. 
And I feel that we are going to be revived.'' It w^as 
the commencement of a revival. Says a pastor, 
" an aged man, venerated for piety, once came to my 
study. Though poor in this world, he was rich in 
faith. In prayer he seemed to converse with God. 
*^ I have called to say to you, my dear pastor," said 
he, " that the Lord is in the midst of us, and we 
shall all soon see the effect of his presence.'' I had 
observed a marked solemnity in the congregation, 
but nothing more. I asked the venerable man why 
he felt so. His reply was as follows : " Since twelve 
o'clock last night the Spirit of God has been so upon 
me that I have been unable to do anything but pray, 
and to rejoice in the prospect of a blessed refreshing 
from the presence of the Lord." And that was the 
commencement of the first revival in my present 
field of labor; a field which has been very often 
watered with the rain and dew of heaven." 

Mr. Finney says, ^^ I once knew a minister who 
had a revival fourteen winters in succession. I did 



PRAYER AND REVIVALS, 



293 



not know how to account for it till I saw one of his 
members get up in a prayer meeting and make a con- 
fession. 'Brethren,' said he, ^ I have been long in 
the habit of praying every Saturday night till after 
midnight, for the descent of the Holy Ghost among 
us. And now, brethren, (and he began to weep) 
I confess that I have neglected it for two or three 
weeks.* The secret was out. That minister had a 
praying church." 

A minister once stated that in a certain town 
there had been no revival for many years, and the 
church was nearly run out, and desolation reigned 
unbroken. There lived in a retired part of the 
town, an aged man, a blacksmith by trade, and of so 
stammering a tongue that it was painful to hear 
him speak. On one Friday, as he was at work in his 
shop, his mind became greatly exercised about the 
state of the church, and of the impenitent. His ag- 
ony became so great that he was induced to lay by 
his work, lock the shop door, and spend the after- 
noon in prayer. He prevailed, and on the Sabbath 
called on the minister, and desired him to appoint a 
conference meeting. After some hesitation the min- 
ister consented, observing, however, that he feared 
but few would attend. He appointed it at a large 
private house. When the evening came, more 
assembled than could be accommodated in the house. 
All was silent for a time, until one man broke out in 
tears, and said, if any one could pray he begged him 
to pray for him. Another followed, and another, 
and still another, until it was found that persons 



294 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



from every quarter of the town, were under deep 
conviction. And what was remarkable, they all 
dated their conviction at the hour when the old man 
was praying in his shop. A powerful revival fol- 
lowed. Thus this old stammering man prevailed, 
and, as a prince, had power with God. 

A pious sick man in the western part of New 
York used to pray for the preachers and churches 
of his acquaintance daily, at set hours. In his diary 
were found entries like this, '' To-day I have been 
enabled to offer the prayer of faith for a revival in 
such a church.'' So through the list. It is said 
that each church was soon enjoying a revival, and 
nearly in the order of time named in the diary. 

A revival often springs up without any apparent 
cause. But if inquiry were duly made, among 
perhaps the obscure members of the church, it 
would be found that some man or woman or child 
had been agonizing for that revival, and was expect- 
ing it. A writer in one of the religious journals 
gives the following fact : *^ A brother in the ministry, 
whose parish was some ten miles from mine, once 
called on me and gave me an account of a remarkable 
revival among his people. Scores had been con- 
verted, and many were awakened. Having detailed 
facts and incidents full of interest, he added, *' What 
is most singular is, the work is wholly unaccounta- 
ble.'' He had himself felt no unusual solicitude, 
nor been moved to special fervor in prayer or preach- 
ing ; nor did he know that any member of his church 
had been specially quickened. All at once this 



PR A YER AND REVIVALS. 



295 



cloud overhung his people, and the rain began to 
descend. ^' I have seen/' said he, '* many revivals, 
but never one like this, preceded by no sign. It is/' 
he added, *'' an unaccountable revival.*' The work 
continued and increased till more than a hundred 
were added to the church. From time to time I saw 
him, and heard of the progress of the work. Months 
passed away ; the revival had ceased ; the converts 
had been baptized ; and that pastor called on me 
again. '* I have found/' said he, *^the secret of the 
revival.*' ^' Ah," said I, full of curiosity; ''what is 
it ?'' *' There is,'' he replied, '^ a sister in my church 
who has been for years an invalid, confined to her 
bed. She lives several miles from the village, and 
the other day I rode out to see her. As I sat by 
her bed-side, she said, 'You have had a precious 
revival.* ' We have,' I answered. ^ I knew it was 
coming/ said she.*' And then she proceeded to 
give her pastor an account of the burden that had 
been upon her heart for weeks, and of the manner 
in which her soul had gone forth in prayer for the 
unconverted, in midnight hours ; and before the 
interview closed, the pastor felt that the unaccounta- 
ble revival was accounted for. 

The vital relation between prayer and revivals 
has often been illustrated in our institutions of learn- 
ing. We have elsewhere spoken of colleges and semi- 
naries as connected with revivals. An instance is 
here appended of the earnest prayers amid which 
such institutions were founded. It is also worthy of 
record as an example of the power of prayer. We 



296 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



find the fact stated in the life of Dr. Nathaniel Ken- 
drick, as connected with the early struggles of the 
institution at Hamilton, N. Y., now Madison Univer- 
sity. The Board meetings were not so much seasons 
for the dry discussion of business as of prayer, inas- 
much as from their great extremity they were driven 
to ask counsel of God, and implore deliverance from 
embarrassment through his interposition. At one 
meeting of the Board, which probably occurred in 
18265 most of the time was spent in earnest prayer 
and strong crying to God for direction. The Board 
felt the need of a suitable edifice to accommodate 
the growing school ; and besides, it was in a great 
measure destitute of funds to aid those whom they 
had received as beneficiaries. At the meeting now 
referred to, the only vote passed was one appointing 
a day of fasting and prayer some weeks from that 
session. It was a dark hour, but just the darkness 
that precedes the cheerful Hght of day. For those 
prayers were taking effect. They disturbed the sleep 
of Mr. Nicholas Brown, of Providence, R. I., and he 
dreamed nightly about Hamilton. And so he came 
to his pastor, Dr. Gano, and said, ^ They are in 
tremble at Hamilton, I think ; for I can't sleep 
nights ; my dreams about them disturb me ; do 
you know their condition ? ' Upon being told that 
he was ignorant of their exact condition, Mr. Brown 
said, you must go and see ; and upon this Dr. Gano 
made the journey to Hamilton, at Mr. Brown's ex- 
pense ; and finding out their great strait, and report- 
ing it to Mr. Brown, he at once sent them $1000, 



PRAYER AND REVIVALS, 



297 



which relieved their perplexity. Thus much for 
Hamilton. We mention some other cases. 

Mary Lyon had faith enough to found Hol- 
yoke Seminary ; and she followed it with prayer 
enough to secure a special revival of religion in it 
every year of her life. The secret of those wonder- 
ful revivals was never understood till after her death ; 
when they were found, in almost every instance, to 
have been preceded by special seasons of persever- 
ing secret prayer. 

In the year 1823, chiefly as the result of exten- 
sive correspondence, the last Thursday of February 
in each year was agreed upon '' as the day for 
special supplication that God would pour from on 
high his Spirit upon our Colleges and Seminaries 
of learning." And what have been some of the 
results? In the years 1824 and 1825 revivals were 
experienced in five different Colleges; in J826, in 
six Colleges; in 1831, in nineteen, resulting in the 
conversion of more than three hundred and fifty 
students. In one of the Colleges it is stated that 
a revival commenced on the very day of the Concert. 
In 1835, not less than eighteen revivals were reported 
by different Colleges, and some one hundred and 
fifty or two hundred hopeful conversions. Fourteen 
Colleges, a few years since, experienced revivals 
commencing just subsequent to the last Thursday 
of February, and it is particularly observable that 
those reported occur ttsiially about this time. It 
has been estimated that fifteen hundred students 
were converted during the first fifteen years subse- 
13* 



298 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

quent to the observance of the Concert of prayer for 
Colleges and Seminaries of learning. 

The Week of Prayer^ with the beginning of every 
year, in which the churches throughout Christen- 
dom now quite^generally unite, also furnishes most 
striking exemplifications of the revival results of 
prayer. Nothing is more obvious than the marked 
increase of religious interest following this world- 
wide concert of prayer. 

The revival of 1857-8 originated and progressed, 
to a most remarkable extent, through the instru- 
mentality of prayer. It was, eminently, a revival of 
prayer. This was perhaps the leading characteristic. 
It was repeatedly noticed that assemblies were 
more interested in the prayers than the addresses. 
They came together, not to hear learned, elegant, 
or eloquent appeals, but to unite in prayer. The 
great attraction was prayer. The great business was 
intercession. 

We have thus noticed some few points of obvious 
connection between prayer and revivals ; and are 
prepared to endorse the words of one who says, ** I 
very much doubt whether, if we could see the con- 
nection between prayer and the glorious revivals that 
have blessed this land, we should find one that was 
not definitely prayed for by some earnest wrestlers, 
or wrestler, at the throne of grace.'' 

The conclusion is patent and important. If 
there are to be more revivals there must be more 
grayer. Writing of the revival of 1857 ^^^ ^? Dr. J. 
W. Alexander says, the lesson which it should teach 



PRA YER AND REVIVALS, 299 

US IS the duty of being instant in supplication for 
the larger and more glorious effusion of the Holy 
Spirit. Acting on this, we shall behold new marvels 
of love." And he adds that we must pray as we 
have never yet prayed. ^'Our want of success is due 
to our coldness of desire and niggardliness of request. 
If we were but under a deep and solemn impression 
of the divine power, bounty, and faithfulness, how 
should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thou- 
sanci to flight!*' 

We need yet to learn, for all we talk so much 
about it, the power there is in prayer. God indeed 
purposed the prevalence of revivals, but it is also his 
purpose to bestow these manifold blessings upon the 
condition of his being *^ inquired of" to do it for us. 
Prayer, thus, is of the nature of cause and effect. It 
enters into the plan and structure of the universe. 
The remark of some one is not too strong, that God 
would as soon give rain without the clouds or the 
electric fluid, as revivals without the prayers of his 
people. To dispense with either the material or the 
moral instrumentality, were alike to sever the estab- 
lished order of sequences, and violate the ordinances 
of heaven. 

What a privilege is here placed in the hands of 
believers ! And what a responsibility ! How awful 
our guilt if this power of prayer be slighted and neg- 
lected ! What riglit have we to leave unappropria- 
ted and unapplied, a power which God has appointed 
for the salvation of men, and which heaven and 
earth now wait to see us put forth for the world's re- 



300 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



demption ? What ^' inhumanity to man/' and what 
want of sympathy with Christ, are chargeable upon 
us if we fail to offer the effectual fervent prayer of 
the righteous in such manner and measure as God 
requires ! 

From this time forth, then, let us more than ever 
"give ourselves to prayer." Let us learn over 
again, with the teachableness of little children, what 
IS believing prayer, and persevering prayer, and im- 
portunate prayer, and united prayer, and consistent 
prayer. 

Dr. Backus, former President of Hamilton College, 
when on his death-bed, was told that he could not 
live to exceed half an hour. " Is that so ? '* said the 
great and good man, ^^then take me out of my bed, 
and place me upon my knees, and let me spend that 
time in calling on God for the salvation of the world ! " 
His request was complied with, and his last breath 
was spent in praying for the conversion of his fellow- 
men. He died upon his knees. This is the earnest, 
heart -absorbing spirit of prayer that the church needs 
to have. And why should not all Christians feel the 
same interest in a great gathering in of souls as 
was felt by this dying saint ? Where there is such 
praying, a benediction is on the way. 

" O Lord, Revive Thy Work ! " 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SINGING AND REVIVALS. 

T ET it not be thought that this is an unimportant 
topic. Singing is an auxiliary to prayer, and to 
all Christian work. 

The power of music all acknowledge. At a crit- 
ical moment during the battle of Waterloo, Welling- 
ton discovered that the Forty-second Highlanders 
began to waver. On inquiry as to the cause of an 
occurrence so unusual, he was informed that the band 
had ceased to play. Instantly he gave the command 
that the pipes be played in full force. The effect 
was magical. The wavering Highlanders rallied ; and 
solid and impregnable as the fort of Gibraltar, with 
tattered colors and blood-drenched swords, they 
went forth to win the hard-contested field. 

There are reasons for the effectiveness of music. 
One is found in the well-known influence of mental 
associations. Cowper says : 

" Wherever I have heard 
A kindred melody, the scene revives, 
And with it all its pleasures and its pains." 

This is not poetic exaggeration, but simple truth. 
The power of such associations can scarcely be over- 
estimated. We all understand it. There are 



302 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



melodies which enter into the tenderest memories of 
childhood, and have gone singing to us in all life's 
way, like the airy voice of some guardian angel. 
They sigh in our sickness, and syllable our joy. 

We could specify some special hymns which 
have grown in our hearts. We sang this one, per- 
haps, the morning that our child died. We sang 
that one on the Sabbath evening, when, after many 
years, the family were once more all together. 
'' There be hymns that were sung while the mother 
lay a dying ; that were sung when the child, just 
converted, was filling the family with the joy of Christ 
new-born, and laid not now in a manger, but in a 
heart. And thus, sprung from a wondrous life, 
they lead a life yet more wonderful. When they 
first come to us they are Hke the single strokes of a 
bell, ringing down to us from above ; but, at length, 
a single hymn becomes a whole chime of bells, 
mingling and discoursing to us the harmonies of a 
life's Christian experience/* 

In this stirring of the mind by the force of men- 
tal associations, we see a reason for the power of 
song. 

There is a deeper philosophy in it. God is 
pleased to accompany it with the energy of the Holy 
Spirit. He made us to be moved by singing. The 
soul is a many-stringed lyre, which he touches while 
working in us both to will and to do of his good 
pleasure. Hence, the influence of sacred song is to 
refresh, stimulate, and ennoble the mind. It is calcu- 
lated, in a very eminent degree, to hft above mean 



SINGING AND RE VIVA IS. 



303 



associations, and inspire emotions which are felt in 
their full intensity where the Lord is worshipped 
in the beauty of holiness. 

Moreover ; God often employs it to send convic- 
tion to a soul. A wild boy in the streets of London 
was one day arrested by the voice of singing. He 
turned aside, and found two or three Christians sing- 
ing religious hymns. One line struck his mind, and 
hung to it, so that he went away repeating it. 
That line was, '' Stop, poor sinner, stop and think, 
before you farther go." Years afterward, in the 
city of New York, he tried to be an infidel ; and for 
this purpose went to hear Robert Dale Owen. But 
still there rung in his ears, " Stop, poor sinner, stop 
and think.*' Never could he forget those words. 
That man is now a Christian, and an earnest worker 
for the souls of others. 

Accordingly, God has always sanctioned the ser- 
vice of song. When at his fiat the world sprang 
into existence, '^ the morning stars sang together, and 
all the sons of God shouted for joy.'' When Israel 
had passed through the Red Sea on dry land, 
and saw their enemies engulphed in the returning" 
waves, they all sang praises in an anthem composed 
by Miriam, the sister of Moses. On the seventh day 
of compassing the walls of Jericho, when the priests 
blew with the trumpets in an extraordinary manner, 
the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall 
of the city fell down flat. The ark w^as brought 
back from its banishment with extraordinary shout- 
ing and singing of the whole congregation of Israel. 



304 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



How joyfully does David cry, '' Sing praises to 
God, sing praises ; sing praises unto our King, sing 
praises ; for God is the King of all the earth, sing ye 
praises with understanding. Let the people praise 
thee, O God ; let all the people praise thee ! '* Nor 
did either David or Solomon, the two most illustri- 
ous monarchs that ever sat upon the Jewish throne, 
deem it beneath their dignity to take music under 
their personal management. It is plain to see what 
interest was attached to exercises of praise, in the 
dedication of the first temple. The glorious symbol 
of the divine presence was not given when the ark 
was deposited in the holy of holies, but at the glad 
moment when the song arose, '* For his mercy en- 
dureth forever ! '* Then it was that the '* glory of 
the Lord filled the house,'' and shone so transcend- 
ently that even '^ the priests could not stand to min- 
ister.'' This is not to be regarded merely as a part 
of the splendid ceremonies of a typical dispensation. 
There is a moral lesson in it as distinct and signifi- 
cant as that which attends the dedicatory prayer. 

With the introduction of the new economy, most 
of the ancient forms of divine worship were abolished ; 
but singing, though simplified and cast in a new 
mould, was still retained. Our Saviour gave it the 
sanction of his own example, no doubt, in his 
ministry; and at the institution of the Supper they 
sang a hymn, (including himself,) before he went 
out to the agonies of the garden and the cross. 
*^ Oh ! but for one moment even, to have sat trans- 
fixed, and to have listened to the hymn that Christ 



SINGING AND REVIVALS, 



305 



sang, and to the singing ! But the olive-trees did 
not hear his murmured notes more clearly than, rapt 
in imagination, we have heard them ! '' 

We may be sure that there was singing at that 
meeting of days before the outpouring of the Pente- 
costal blessing. And we can see the exceeding fitness 
in their chanting under such circumstances, the second 
psalm, for example : ^' Why do the heathen rage, and 
the people imagine a vain thing ? The Kings of the 
earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel to- 
gether against the Lord, and against his Anointed, 
saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast 
away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the 
heavens shall laugh : the Lord shall have them in 
derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his 
wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet 
have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I 
will declare the decree : the Lord hath said unto 
me. Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. 
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine 
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for 
thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod 
of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's 
vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye Kings : be in- 
structed, ye Judges of the earth. Serve the Lord 
with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son 
lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when 
his wrath is kindled but a little : Blessed are all they 
that put their trust in him ! " 

After the Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit, the 
infant church is seen daily in the temple praising 



3o6 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

God. A little onward, we hear the Apostle Paul 
exhorting the churches '' to sing with the Spirit and 
with the understanding ; '' *^ to be filled with the 
Spirit, speaking to themselves in Psalms and Hymns 
and Spiritual Songs, singing and making melody in 
their hearts unto the Lord ; " and to ^* sing with grace 
in their hearts ; '' thus " teaching and admonishing'' 
one another, and in ^' everything giving thanks/' 

Singing will also be prominent in heaven. There, 
in the world of perfection, " they sing the song of 
Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, 
saying, *' Great and marvellous are thy works. Lord 
God Almighty ; just and true are thy ways, thou 
King of saints!'' The ascriptions of rapt souls, 
throughout the Apocalypse, take the form of musical 
utterance. Those vocal acclamations of palm-bearing 
saints must be regarded as psalms, songs, hymns, or 
anthems. Thus must we judge of the Four, and the 
Four-and-twenty. They sing a ^^ new song,'' saying, 
'^Thou art worthy," ^' for thou wast slain!" The 
subsequent voice of the '' ten thousand times ten 
thousand, and thousands of thousands," is the voice 
of song. The angels and elders, and four living ones, 
w^io fall before the throne on their faces, and worship 
God, cannot but utter the voice of celestial psalmody, 
as they say : ^' Amen, Blessing and glor}^, and wis- 
dom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and 
might be unto God forever and ever." 

Though we have no specimens of the Hymns • 
and Spiritual Songs sung in the primitive times, 
except the occasional doxologies of the redeemed in 



SINGING AND REVIVALS, 



307 



the book of Revelation, it cannot be doubted that 
the Christians used, not only the Psalms of the Old 
Testament literally, or accommodated to the circum- 
stances of a new and rising church, — but that they 
had original lays of their own, in which they cele- 
brated the praises of Christ, as the Saviour of the 
world. ' 

In the middle ages, the Roman Catholic and 
Greek churches adopted singing as an essential part 
of public worship ; but this, like the reading of the 
Scriptures, was too frequently in an unknown tongue, 
by an affectation of wisdom to excite the veneration 
of ignorance, when the learned in their craftiness 
taught that ^' Ignorance is the mother of Devotion ; '' 
and ignorance was very willing to believe it. And 
yet there are hymns which, (as one has it,) rose up 
like birds in the early centuries, and have come 
flying and singing all the way down to us. Their 
wing is untired yet, nor is the voice less sweet now 
than it was a thousand years ago. Though they 
sometimes disappeared, they never sank ; but as 
engineers for destruction send bombs that, rising 
high up in wide curves, overleap great spaces and 
drop down in a distant spot, so God, in times of 
darkness, seems to have caught up these hymns, 
spanning long periods of time, and letting them fall 
at distant eras, not for explosion and wounding, but 
for healing and consolation. There are crusaders* 
hymns, that rolled forth their truths upon the 
oriental air, while a thousand horses' hoofs kept time 
below, and ten thousand palm-lcavcs whispered 



308 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

and kept time above ! Other hymns, fulfilling the 
promise of God that his saints should mount up with 
wings as eagles, have borne up the sorrows, the 
desires, and the aspirations of the poor, the oppressed, 
and the persecuted, of Huguenots, of Covenanters, and 
of Puritans, and winged them to the bosom of God. 

At the era of the Reformation, Psalms and 
Hymns in the native tongue were revived in Germany, 
England and elsewhere, among the other means of 
grace of which the people had been for centuries 
defrauded. Luther was exceedingly fond of music. 
He would often say to his despondent fellow-workers, 
^^ Come, brethren, let us sit down and sing the forty- 
sixth psalm : '' — ^^God is our refuge and strength, a 
very present help in trouble,*' etc. Bishop Jewell, 
(1560) speaking of the Reformation and its visible 
effects, says that nothing helped it more than in- 
viting the people to sing psalms. " Sometimes at 
Paul's Cross, six thousand persons were sitting 
together, w^hich was very grievous to the papists.'* 
Richard Baxter says, '' It was not the least comfort 
that I had in the converse of my late dear wife, that 
our first exercise in the morning and the last in bed 
at night, was a psalm of praise, till the hearing of 
others interrupted it. Let those who savor not 
melody leave others to their different appetites, and 
be content to be so far strangers to their delights." 

John Wesley prided himself upon the singing in 
his meeting-houses. His brother Charles was a born 
hymnist. He wrote about 7,000 hymns, nearly all for 
special occasions. Many were called out by some 



SINGING AND REVIVALS. 



309 



great public event, some startling religious experi- 
ence, or some feeling of sorrow or joy. He was hab- 
itually indulging his love of lyric poetry. He com- 
posed immortal odes as he rode along the highways 
from town to town, and mob to mob. The whole soul 
of Charles Wesley, says one, was imbued with poetic 
genius. His thoughts seemed to bask and revel in 
rhythm. The variety of his metres (said to be un- 
equalled by any English writer whatever) shows how 
impulsive were his poetic emotions, and how won- 
derful his facility in their spontaneous and varied 
utterance. In the Wesleyan Hymn-book alone 
they amount to at least twenty-six, and others are 
found in his other productions. '' They march at 
times like lengthened processions with solemn 
grandeur; they sweep at other times like chariots 
of fire through the heavens ; they are broken like 
the sobs of grief at the grave-side, play like the joy- 
ful affections of childhood at the hearth, or shout 
like victors in the fray of the battle-field." 

Dr. Curry, in his Life of John Wesley, says, 
" Aware of the great advantage to be derived from 
psalmody, he made it an essential part of the devo- 
tional service in his chapels. He especially enjoined 
that the whole congregation should sing ; and that 
(to use his own words) not lolling at ease, or in the 
indecent posture of sitting, drawling out one word 
after another, but standing before God, and praising 
him lustily with a good courage." 

Dr. Stevens, in his History of Methodism, says, 
*' It was a necessary condition of the evangelical re- 



310 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



formation of the eighteenth century that an im- 
proved psalmody should be provided. The neces- 
sary psalmody was not only provided as a result of 
the new movement, but was begun even in anticipa- 
tion of it. The Wesleys published their first hymn- 
book as early as 1738, the year in which they date 
their regenerated life ; and the next year, the epoch 
of Methodism, was signalized by the appearance of 
their *' Hymns and Sacred Poems," two editions of 
which appeared before its close. And now rapidly 
followed, year after year, sometimes twice a year, 
not only new editions of these volumes but new 
poetic works, which were scattered more extensively 
than any other of their publications through Eng- 
land, Wales, Ireland, the British West Indies, the 
North American Provinces, and the United States, 
till not less than forty-nine poetical publications 
were enumerated among their literary works; and 
before Wesley's death a common psalmody, sung 
mostly to a common music, resounded through all 
the Methodist chapels of the English and American 
world. The achievement accomplished by Method- 
ism in this respect is alone one of the most extra- 
ordinary historical facts of the last century. Its in- 
fluence on the popular taste, intellectual as well as 
moral, could not fail to be incalculably great.'* 

While giving the masses divine songs, continues 
Stevens, Wesley also endeavored to make them sing. 
He was continually urging his preachers to set the 
example, and not only exhort the people to follow 
it, but to induce them to learn the science of music. 



SINGING AND REVIVALS, 



311 



*' Preach frequently on smging,'' he said, in the 
Minutes of the Conference ; " suit the tune to the 
words •/' ^* do not suffer the people to sing too 
slow ; let the women sing their parts alone ; let 
no man sing with them, unless he understands the 
notes, and sings the bass." /* Exhort every one in 
the congregation to sing ; in every large society let 
them learn to sing ; recommend our Tune-book 
everywhere/' As early as 1742 he issued ^^ A collec- 
tion of Tunes set to Music, as sung at the Foundry." 
He published a small work on '' The Grounds of 
Vocal Music." Three other publications followed 
these, at intervals, on " Sacred Harmony/' adapted 
to " the voice, harpsichord, and organ." 

This Wesleyan singing was a source of great 
power to early Methodism. Hundreds of hearers 
who cared not for the preaching, were charmed to 
the Methodist assemblies by their music. The sing- 
ing was sometimes heard two miles off. 

Whitfield, when once censured for having some of 
his hymns set to music which was not regarded as 
sacred, said, '^ Would you have the devil keep all the 
good tunes to himself? " 

Mrs. Sherwood, who knew Henry Martyn in 
India, says of him, ^^ He had an uncommonly fine 
voice, and fine ear ; he could sing many fine chants, 
and a vast variety of hymns and psalms. He would 
insist upon it that I should sing with him, and he 
taught me many tunes, all of which were afterwards 
brought into requisition ; and when fatigued himself, 



312 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



would make me sit by his couch and practice these 
hymns.*' 

Jonathan Edwards, at Northampton, writes 
*' There has of late been a great increase of singing." 
Again he says, ^' I believe it to have been one fruit 
of the extraordinary degrees of the sweet and joyful 
influences of the Spirit of God which have been late- 
ly given, that there has appeared such a disposition 
to abound in that duty, (of singing) and frequently 
to fall into this divine exercise, not only in ap- 
pointed solemn meetings, but when Christians occa- 
sionally meet together at each other's houses." 
And when objectors found fault with this abounding 
in singing, he said, "■ To complain of this, is to be 
much like the Pharisees, who were disgusted when 
the multitude of the disciples began to rejoice, and 
with loud voices to praise God, and cry Hosanna^ 
when Christ was entering into Jerusalem.'* 

One who was a hearer at Kilsyth, (Scotland), in 
a revival, said, " When the notes of the congrega- 
tion began to swell in a psalm of confession, I felt 
as if it would have hearted me, — as if I must give 
way altogether." 

The singing in Dr. Nettleton's meetings was a 
marked feature. The same might be said of those 
of later evangelists. 

Rev. E. P. Hammond makes much of hymns. 
In all his meetings hymn-singing is prominent ; all 
of the hymns setting forth the truth. This hymn- 
singing attracts the young to the meetings ; it rivets 



SINGING AND REVIVALS. , 313 

the truths on their mintls ; it adds greatly to the 
liveHness of the meetings. 

During the revival of 1857 the demand for cheap 
hymn books was enormous ; and in the meetings 
there was no dragging, but all sang with the Spirit ; 
and the excellent effect was often remarked upon. 

Numerous examples might be cited illustrative 
of the power of singing in revivals. Here is one 
which came under the writer^s observation during a 
series of meetings in his church. Two worldly young 
men, who were acting as clerks in a post-ofifice close 
to the meeting-house, often spoke to each other of the 
sweet music ringing out on the evening air. *^ Let 
us go in and hear the singing,*' said one. '^ Agreed,'* 
said the other; and entering, both were converted. 

An actress in one of the English provincial 
theatres, was one day passing through the streets of 
the town, when her attention was attracted by the 
sound of voices. Curiosity prompted her to look in 
at an open door. It was a social meeting; and at 
the moment of her observation they were singing: 

" Depth of mercy ! can there be 
Mercy still reserved for me ? " 

The tune was sweet and simple, and the words riv- 
eted her attention. She stood motionless during a 
prayer which was offered. But the words of the 
hymn followed her. She could not banish them 
from her mind, and at last she resolved to procure 
the book which contained it. She did so, and the 
more she read it, the more decided her serious im- 
14 



3H 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



pressions became. She attended the ministry of the 
gospel, read her hitherto neglected and despised 
Bible, and bowed herself in humility and faith before 
him whose mercy she now felt she needed. She 
determined at once and forever to renounce her 
profession ; and for some little time excused herself 
from appearing on the stage, without, however, dis- 
closing her change of sentiments, or making known 
her resolution finally to leave it. The manager of 
the theatre called upon her one morning, and re- 
quested her to sustain the principal character in a 
new play which was to be performed the next week 
for his benefit. Unable to resist his solicitations, she 
promised to appear, and on the appointed evening 
went to the theatre. The character she assumed 
required her, on her first entrance, to sing a song ; 
and when the curtain drew up, the orchestra imme- 
diately began the accompaniment. But she stood 
as if lost in thought, and as one forgetting all around 
her, and her own situation. The music ceased, but 
she did not sing ; and supposing her to be overcome 
by embarrassment, the band again commenced. A 
second time they paused for her to begin, and still 
she did not open her lips. A third time the air was 
played, and then, with clasped hands, and eyes 
suffused with tears, she sang, not the words of the 
song, but 

" Depth of mercy ! can there be 
Mercy still reserved for me ? " 

The performance was suddenly ended. Many ridi- 
culed, though some were induced from that memo- 



SINGING AND REVIVALS. 

rable night to " consider their ways," and to reflect 

on the wonderful power of that religion wh ch 

changed her heart and her life. 

It is related that as a revival was in progress in a 

certain vdlage, a profane tavern-keeper Ce he 
would never be found among the fools who were 
running to the meetings. On hearing, howeveT of 

he particularly pleasing mode of singifg, his cu Hos 
^ was excited, and he said he did not know but he 
m ght go and hear the singing, but, with an impre! 
cation, that he would never hear a word of th7ser- 
mon. As soon as the hymn before sermon was 
sung, he leaned forward and secured both ears 

r tf :.T"°" "^^' '^^ ^^^^«"^--- Happe" 
ng to withdraw one of his fingers, the words "he 
that hath ears to hear let him hear," pronounced 
with great solemnity, entered the ear that was open 
and struck him with irresistible force. He kept his 
hand from returning to the ear, and, feeling an im- 
pression he had never known before, presently with- 
drew the other finger, and hearkened with deep at- 
tention to the discourse which followed. He became 
truly pious, and after some years' faithful service 
died rejoicing in the hope of glory. 
^ Wj|ile a powerful revival meeting was pro-ress- 
ing m the main room of " Burton's Theatre " N Y 
ZtrX''" '^'Ty^^' l^^d concluded, and all wa^ I 
the i; 5' "T^ t ^''*'"' «>^.^V was heard ; when 

h artlatT^St' '"^ "''' " ^^-^^--^' ^° >- 

near that ? Stop a moment and listen to that : tliat 

's the singing in the old bar-room of this theatre ! 



3i6 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



Let US spend two minutes in silent prayer and 
thanksgiving ! " With one accord 3,000 heads were 
bowed ; and for two minutes no sound was heard 
save the singing from the old bar-room, and the rip- 
ple of the gas at the footlights. No more impres- 
sive scene was ever witnessed within those walls. 

It is probable that during the revival of 1857-8, 
the hymn beginning, 

" Just as I am, without one plea/' 

was the means of bringing peace to many hundreds 
of troubled souls. In Mr. Hammond^s meetings, 
the hymn, 

'* Nothing either great or small. 
Nothing, sinner, no," 

has been equally blessed of the Spirit. 

Probably there are thousands in our churches who 
can recall the effect upon their minds, many years 
ago, of the singing of such hymns as these : 

" O turn ye, O turn ye, for why will ye die : 

" Now the Saviour standeth pleading." 

" O, there will be mourning : " 

" Come trembling sinner in whose breast, etc.'* 

Who can estimate the influence, in seasons of de- 
clension, of such hymns as the following : 

" Saviour, visit thy plantation . " 



SINGING AND REVIVALS, 317 

" The Lord into his garden comes : *' 
" Is this the kind return : " 
" Return, O wanderer, to thy home." 

Of more modern hymns, mention may be made 
of such as these, which have been greatly beneficial 
in the awakening or guidance of souls: 

*' Lord, I hear of showers of blessings : " 

" Come to Jesus : " 

** I am coming to the cross : " 

" Weeping soul, no longer mourn : '* 

" What means this eager anxious throng ; " 

" To day the Saviour calls." 

We answer a few questions which may arise as 
to singing in revivals. 

Should tJiere be vtitch singijtg in the incipient 
stages of a revival? No. The meetings then are 
for confession and contrition, A bowed, self- 
abased, aching heart cannot sing. Neither can one 
that is in an agony for the souls of others. Singing 
then is an impertinence. In Gethsemane there were 
but tears, and sighs and groans. Mr. Finney has 
some excellent remarks here : *' I never knew a sing- 
ing revival to amount to much. It dissipates feeling. 
The agonizing spirit of prayer does not lead peo- 
ple to sing. There is a time for everything ; a time 
to sing, and a time to pray. But if I know what it 



3 1 8 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS. 

IS to travail in birth for souls, Christians never feel 
less like singing than when they have the spirit of 
prayer for sinners.'* 

Are special singing-books desirable? On some 
accounts they are. All the congregation should be 
supplied with the hymns and tunes, and it can be 
done more cheaply by little books. The particular 
hymn, too, is readily and quickly found ; which is 
quite important. 

Should the choir be expected to sing? If the ser- 
vices are in the main audience-room, it may be de- 
sirable. But they should act only as leaders of the 
congregation, — not as monopolizers of the singing. 
The leader, also, should be thoroughly in sympathy 
with the preacher, and discard all idea of exhibitions 
of skill. It is important, in all revival meetings, that 
at the outset there should be a mutual understand- 
ing as to the matter of choir-help. 

Should the organ be tcsed? A melodeon is better, 
as being generally closer to the audience, and more 
readily handled. As a rule, perhaps, it is better to 
dispense with instrumental music. 

What should be the character of the singing? This 
depends much upon the circumstances. If it is in a 
low state of the church, it should generally be grave, 
penitential and subdued. If the feeling is high, and 
converts are multiplying, it may be more joyous 
and demonstrative. It should always, however, be 
prompt and spirited, never dull and prosy. Above 
all, let those who sing feel what they utter, and so 
plainly speak the ivords as to edify one another ; — as 



SINGING AND REVIVALS. 



319 



Paul says, singing "with the understanding;" 1. e., 
so as to be understood. We append a few other 
hints. 

Let the leader be in front of the congregation, 
before the pulpit, and nearly on a level with the pews. 

Use a given hymn always with the same tune. 

Use a book in<.which the hymn and tune are upon 
one page. 

The connection of the hymn should not be broken 
by interludes, or long pauses. 

The verses in any one singing should be few ; sel- 
dom more than two or three. 

The singing of a familiar hymn will often be more 
spirited if the reading of it be omitted. 

Use tunes that are strictly congregational in their 
structure. 

If new tunes cannot be learned, use such as are 
already familiar. 

Let the sentiment of the hymns, in any given 
meeting, be uniform from beginning to end. Keep 
to the " key note," in this respect, throughou>t : 
otherwise the mind is turned off from the main point 
of the meeting. 

Let everything bend to the one object of awaken- 
ing, edifying and saving men ; and do it '* heartily, 
as unto the Lord.*' 

" O Lord, Revive Thy Work ! " 



CHAPTER XIV. 

PERSONAL EFFORT AND REVIVALS. 

T7 VERY attentive reader of the New Testament 
perceives how the gospel at first won its way. 
The converts told the good news to their friends, 
who, in turn, beheved and influenced others. 

Take this narrative : *' John stood, and two of 
his disciples: and looking upon Jesus as he walk- 
ed, he saith. Behold the Lamb of God ! and they 
followed Jesus. One of the two who heard John 
speak and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Pe- 
ter's brother. He first findeth his own brother 
Simon, and saith unto him, we have found the Mes- 
sias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And h'e 
brought him to Jesus. The day following Jesus 
would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and 
saith unto him. Follow me. Philip findeth Nathanael 
and saith unto him, we have found him of whom 
Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus 
of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathaniel said 
unto him. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ? 
Philip saith unto him, come and see.'' 

Thus a company of believers gathered about our 
Lord Jesus, and from him radiated abroad through- 
out Judea. The absence of any distinct organization 
is most observable. And in the formation of the 



PERSONA L EFFOR T AND RE VIVALS. 32 1 

church at Jerusalem, how plain that everything cen- 
tred, not in an organic body, but in the individual 
convert. 

Speaking of this first church organization. Dr. 
WilHam Adams says, '' It formed itself, as it were. 
It was a collection of believing men and women who 
were baptized in testimony of their Christian belief. 
All the organization there was about it, appears to 
have been as exigencies arose, necessities required, 
and proprieties prompted. What Christ enjoined, was 
that every creature should believe on him as a per- 
sonal Redeemer ; and that all who beheve on him 
should observe his ordinances, baptism and the Lord's 
supper. Nothing beyond this do we find in the record. 
Our Lord always individualizes men. Faith in the 
heart of the particular man is the essential thing. 
All those who believed on him after this manner, 
gravitating towards a common centre, naturally and 
voluntarily associated together; and so particular 
churches were formed and organized, by the election 
of their own officials, and the administration of their 
own rules. So simply lies the whole matter in the 
New Testament. The first Christian church was in 
that city where the gospel was first preached. It 
consisted of those resident in that place who, in the 
comprehensive but laconic phrase of Scripture, called 
on the name of the Lord Jesus.'* 

When persecution burst upon this society of 

believers, they were all scattered abroad except the 

apostles, who remained at Jerusalem. And we read 

that " they that were scattered abroad went cvcry- 

14^ 



322 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



where preaching the zvord^ We are also told of a 
few years* results of this individual heralding of the 
new faith. '' Now they that were scattered abroad 
upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, 
travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, 
preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. 
And some of them were men of Cyprus and Gyrene, 
who, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto 
the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the 
hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number 
beheved, and turned unto the Lord.'* 

The great commission is virtually repeated in the 
last chapter of Revelation, and in how broad a form ! 
'^ The Spirit and the bride say come ; and let him 
that heareth say come." The idea is that of a crier, 
proclaiming good news as he runs ; and every one 
that hears, takes up and repeats the tidings, the sound 
echoing from hill to valley, till all do hear. Here, 
then, is a universal command to every one that re- 
ceives the gospel, to make it known to others. 

Soon after this, the simple apostolic idea of an 
associated company of believers, was lost in a " clergy- 
churchy The church idea of Christianity culminated 
in ripe Romanism. Henceforward, religion was 
sacerdotal; and there was d^ monopoly of the word 
of life. Ecclesiastics were everything ; the laity 
nothing. A masterpiece of organism, known as The 
Church, assumes the care of souls, and dispenses 
salvation. As Isaac Taylor has it, this ^church idea,' 
lays its hold on all that are born within its circle, and 
it seals them as the property of the church, and 



PERSONAL EFFORT AND REVIVALS. 



323 



treats them as passive subjects — not individually 
indeed, but seriatijn rather — in its own appointed 
manner, as they arrive at each epoch of their mortal 
journey from the womb to the grave. It daily 
engages for their safety and welfare, (certain condi- 
tions complied with,) and it sends them along author- 
itatively countersigned and endorsed, into the unseen 
world. 

With the first of the revival periods which we 
have chronicled, there was a return, in part, to the 
primitive idea of a church of Christ. Individual 
Christians began again to stand forth. After a 
while, however. Protestantism crystallized into 
Formalism ; and *^ Churchidimty'^ instead of ChrisU 
lanity again prevailed. Then came the reformers of 
the Reformation ; and a religion began to be preached, 
by which individuals should be saved, instead of be- 
ing ^^ left to freeze to death in the arms of an estab- 
lishment.*' 

Here, as one has remarked, is the core of all mod- 
ern evangelism : self-conviction on the part of indi- 
vidual members of Christ's church, prompting to 
produce the same convictions in others. And from 
this centre have sprung all those achievements, by 
which Christianity has been so rapidly and exten- 
sively diffused in our times. Two things cannot be 
conceived in more decided contrast than the cJncrch 
idea of Christianity in mediaeval history, and the true 
idea so potent in the primitive churches, and greatly 
restored in these last days. 

Nor can one fail to sec a deep divine philosophy 



324 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



in the arrangement by which men are individualized 
in all the things of salvation. Plainly this is after 
God's order. It is no disparagement of the ministry 
to make prominent the laity. True, the churches 
must have leaders ; but a general is not to be left to 
fight alone. Men must be specially commissioned 2J^^ 
ordained to dispense the word and ordinances ; but 
there is abundant room for all non-commissioned 
officers, — the great body of believers. When a house 
is on fire, it were a poor plea for inaction in a by- 
stander to say '^ I am not a regular fireman ; I have 
no commission.'* His business is to rush in and 
deliver those in peril. 

The truth is, since a church is only a company of 
individuals, the obligation to reclaim a lost world 
presses on all alike. It is not the work of a great 
corporate body, but of believers personally. The 
pastor is to act ; but so must the church-members. 
Each one is responsible for the duties of the station 
where he is placed. He cannot work by proxy. 
His own growth in grace and spiritual enjoyment 
depend upon his fidelity and activity. The eye and 
the hand, the brain and the lungs, have different 
offices. But by what reason or law is the hand 
expected to be more faithful than the foot, or the 
ear, or the tongue ? And there is no reason why an 
apostle, an evangelist, a pastor should be more faith- 
ful in Jiis official way than a merchant, a physician, a 
lawyer, a housewife should be in their sphere. All 
ahke are to act with prime reference to the honor of 



PERSONAL EFFORT AND REVIVALS, 325 

Christ in the extension of his church through the 
earth. 

In all the revivals which we have sketched, this 
lay element was effective. Is it to be supposed that 
Baxter accomplished the great work we have spoken 
of without helpers ? Let him speak on this point : 
^^ One advantage which I had was through the zeal and 
diligence oi ihc godly people of the place who thirsted 
after the salvation of their neighbors^ and were in pri- 
vate my assistants ; and being dispersed through the 
town, they were ready in almost all companies, to 
repress seducing words, and to justify godliness, and 
convince, reprove, and exhort men according to their 
needs; and also to teach them how to pray, and to 
help them to sanctify the Lord's day. Those peo- 
ple that had none in their families who could pray 
or repeat the sermons, went to the houses of their 
neighbors who could do it, and joined with them.'* 
Should we expect anything less than a great work in 
such a case?'* 

What worlds of self-help were in those words 
which formed the hope and motto of the first Meth- 
odists : — ^^ All at it ; akvays at it ; altogether at it ! " 

It has often been observed that a chief element 
in John Wesley's power was in organizing and inspir- 
ing his fellow helpers. What could he have done 
without them ? Stevens says, with reference to the 
year 1742: '^ The evangelical itinerants directed 
their course toward the mining populations of the 
north and west, prepared for mobs, and, if need be, 
for martyrdom. Hitherto Wesley's lay ''helpers'^ 



326 HAXDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

had been but '' exJiortcrs,'' "^.vA readers and ^' ^;f- 
poit7iders,'\oi the Scriptures ; but '' lay preaching^ 
was now formally be^un/' 

Half a centur}'^ later, we meet a fine example in 
the unofficial personal exertion of the brothers Rob- 
ert and James Alexander Haldane, of Scotland. 
Robert sold his princely estate for seventy thousand 
guineas, and appropriated the avails to the promo- 
tion of religion, excepting only his family expenses, 
which he limited to five hundred pounds annually. 

In May, 1801, James Haldane proceeded on a 
preaching tour in the south of Scotland, and for four 
months preached even,' Lord's day to large congre- 
gations in the open air, and under a tent, and every 
day in the neighboring towns and villages. And 
everj^where his preaching was acceptable, ^nd 
often was it seen that the word was with power. 
He was for half a century a revival lay-preacher, in 
the best sense of the term. Eternity alone will dis- 
close the fruits of the loving spontaneous labors of 
these men. 

In more modern revivals this element of volun- 
tary effort is observable. Dr. E. Porter, in his 
Letters on Revivals, says : — " During the revivals of 
religion which prevailed at the beginning of this cen- 
tury, there was but one sentiment among ministers 
respecting the indispensable importance of using 
"fnore than the * ordinary means' for the conversion 
of sinners. In Connecticut several intelligent and 
pious laymen, fired with a passion for saving souls, 
united and went from town to town holding pro- 



PERSONAL EFFORT AND REVIVALS. 327 

tracted meetings for prayer and exhortation, several 
days in a place. They visited fifty places, in each 
of which a precious work of grace followed, and 
many souls were hopefully converted/' 

The lay element may be said to have been the 
feature of the revival of 1857-60. In a letter from 
Scotland, Rev. A. Robinson has the following : " It 
has been said that lay agency has done more harm 
than good in the successful promotion of revival 
work. My experience is the reverse. I have seen 
indisputable proof that the Lord greatly honored 
and blessed the zealous self-denying efforts of the 
Christian people. These young men deserve the 
highest praise, and I bear this testimony, that I have 
seen literally nothing of that overweening conceit 
and spiritual pride, so natural, and so much feared 
by some good men. It was said the church would be 
inundated by a very deluge of heresies, as the fruit 
of such promiscuous and uneducated exhortation. It 
was more practiced here than elsewhere, and yet we 
have been troubled with no heresies." 

It is well known that the Fulton street prayer- 
meeting, N. Y., was a movement of business men, the 
same being true of similar meetings all through the 
land. 

In a letter of that date. Rev. Thco. L. Cuyler 
thus refers to another form of lay-work, which was 
common : ** Since the revival commenced, our active 
members have arranged a systematic visiting of the 
impenitent, conversing with them or addressing them 
by kind letters. Each one selects one or more to 



328 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

look after. He makes himself responsible for those 
persons. The best Sabbath school teachers visit 
their scholars during the week. In this way the 
pastor is powerfully aided — the working piety of the 
church is developed, and many are reached and 
brought to the evening services for prayer. Every 
evening meeting witnesses new cases of inquiry, and 
new converts to Christ. I earnestly wish that every 
church would adopt these two lines of action and 
carry them both out far more thoroughly than 
we have done. Are not fighting sin and saving 
souls the two great purposes for which churches 
exist?*' 

It IS important to remark that lay-effort ought 
to be intelligently employed. It is every one's duty 
to be " wise *' in winning souls, to the greatest pos- 
sible extent. 

We give a few hints and suggestions which may 
help those anxious to do most good in the Master's 
work. 

Parents should influence their children. Espe- 
cially in a revival should they earnestly and lovingly 
converse and pray with them. If they show anxie- 
ty, they should carefully guard it from being dis- 
sipated. If they rejoice in hope, they should instruct 
and encourage them. Never is paternal neglect 
more culpable than during a revival of religion. 

Sisters and brothers may exert a blessed influence. 
A young man on examination for ordination, stated 
that he was converted in a revival. Upon being 
asked as to the special means, he replied : ^' My 



PERSONAL EFFORT AND REVIVALS. 



329 



Sister's tears broke my heart ; she was so anxious 
for my salvation/' 

Family visitation is another means of usefulness. 
Even the apostles *' ceased not to teach and to 
preach in every house/* as well as "- in the temple." 

Religious conversation is a means which all can use. 
And the power of ^^ words fitly spoken" is often 
exemplified in revivals of religion. 

Prayer is an instrumentality available to all. A 
feeble sick man, on his bed, can draw down a revival. 
When every other expedient fails, supplications to 
the Almighty are still left to us. 

Watch the best opportunity to approach one ; es- 
pecially waiting till disengaged from any employ- 
ment, so as not to be deemed obtrusive ; and when 
the person is in good temper. 

In the main, speak to one when alone. Most per- 
sons are timid, or too proud, to converse on religion 
in the company of others. 

Seize the time when some providence favors your 
designs ; as sickness, or any affliction. 

Do 7iot procrastinate. Make an opportunity if 
you cannot fi7td one. Death, and God's blessed 
Spirit, may not wait for your '* right time " to 
come. 

Aim constantly at saving men. It is a great en- 
terprise to win souls to Christ ; and when it ceases 
to be of secondary importance to the mass of pro- 
fessing Christians, salvation will come out of Zion. 

Realize the worth of souls, A soul ! a soul ! 
Think of its capacity, duration, value. Look upon 



330 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



sinners as under sentence of death. Ask when you 
see the vast procession of mankind moving toward 
the grave, where will they be a few years hence ? 
— and then go out to try to sa^'^e them. 

Be filled with the Spirit, This will make one's 
face to shine as did Moses'. Men will see and feel 
that w^e have been with God. A man once went 
from a revival-meeting into a manufactory, to speak 
to some of the operatives. All felt that he was 
there on solemn business. A young lady made a 
trifling remark, and laughed. He looked at her with 
a feeling of grief. She stopped, her thread broke, 
she became agitated, and soon sat down overcome 
w^ith emotion. She had been stricken with a sense 
of sin ; and conviction seized the rest of the hands, 
so that the astonished owner proposed to stop work 
and have prayer-meeting ; and nearly all in the 
establishment were converted. 

Especially zvork zvhile the Lord zvorks. President 
Edwa'rds says of the revival in his time, that more 
was done in one week then, than in seven years 
before. 

And yet, if believers will but arouse themselves 
to God's work, the lack of revivals will not be com- 
plained of. They will exist already. 

This lack of personal exertion, is the great want of 
the time. The vast majority of professors of religion 
are ready to fortify themselves with excuses against 
all appeals to a positive Christian life. A minister 
once urged a good farmer in his church to come out 
and cooperate in the meetings ; and now, particularly. 



PERSONAL EFFORT AND REVIVALS, 331 

to be at one of special appointment. He assented ; 
and as the pastor left, thinking he had gained a 
point, the farmer shouted, '' If I do not come I'll 
send a hand!'* This suits very many. Here is a 
man who has plenty of money, and is disposed to 
take hfe easy ; and he says 'Til give money; but 
you do the work : — I'll send a hand,'' Here is a 
woman with plenty of time at her command, and 
when you urge her to visit the poor and sick, she 
says, '' O, I do not exactly like to go myself; I'll 
subscribe, — I'll send a hand!" Christian parents 
lay over on the Sunday school teachers the work 
of praying with and for their children : saying, 
'* It's a trial to me ; a cross ; hut yotc do it. — I'll send 
a hand." And here is a man of wealth whose son 
God evidently calls to preach, or to go a missionary : 
but the fatherly pride choosing for that son some 
lucrative profession, the parent answers, '' I cannot 
give up my son; but I'll give money to educate 
some other one for the ministry: — I'll send a hand." 
And so this excusing gjes on ; forgetful of the fact 
that God never yet delegated one man to do another's 
work ; but everywhere, and in every way, calls for 
personal service. 

The most frequent plea is want of ability ; to 
which we answer, there are many ways in which you 
can exert a positive influence for Christ, and within 
your present capacity. In the days of Bonaparte 
the yeomanry of a certain district of France came 
together with their muskets and swords to repel an 
invasion ; and an old woman was seen amoni^ them 



332 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

With a broomstick. '' Janet/' said the colonel, '' what 
are you doing here with that?'* She replied, '' I am 
come to take part with the volunteers/' ' *'But how 
can you take part with a broomstick?'* inquired the 
colonel. ''Sir/' said she, '' I can show which side I 
am on." 

Who has not the ability in many ways of show- 
ing what side he is on ? 

It is worth while for the reader to ask, '' Is my 
influence /^r or against a revival ?" Mr. Cuyler some- 
where asks, '' Who votes against a revival ? " And 
this is his forcible answer : The Christian who neg- 
lects his duty practically votes against a revival. 
He who is more busy in making money than in 
doing good, is opposing the advent of Christ into 
our churches. When I see a vacant seat in the 
prayer-meeting, or an empty pew on an unpleasant 
Sabbath, I say to myself, ^' There is a vote against a 
revival." When I see a Sunday school class left 
without a teacher, I say, '' There is a vote against a 
revival!" When I hear of church-members quit- 
ting their places of prayer for the opera-house or 
the ball-room, I count up so many votes against 
God's coming among us. Drinking usages hinder 
revivals. Injustice to God's poor hinders a revival. 
Inconsistent Christians are just so many dams to 
obstruct the river of salvation. O, for less voting 
against revivals, and more of decided purpose, under 
God, to turn many unto righteousness ! 

'' O Lord, Revive Thy Work ! *' 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL AND REVIVALS, 

C UNDAY schools are the most encouraging fields 
of revival eflfort. They have been so regarded 
from the date of their origin. 

During the last half of the i8th century they 
arose in England, and became an ally in evangelistic 
movements. As early as 1769, a young Methodist, 
Hannah Ball, established a Sunday school in Wy- 
combe, and was instrumental in training many chil- 
dren in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. 
Doubtless similar attempts were made before that 
time, but they were only anticipations of the modern 
institution of Sunday schools. In 1781, while 
another Methodist young woman (afterwards the 
wife of the celebrated lay preacher, Samuel Bradburn) 
was conversing in Gloucester with Robert Raikes, (a 
benevolent citizen of that town and publisher of the 
Gloucester Journal), he pointed to groups of neglected 
children in the street, and asked : ''What can we do 
for them? '* She answered : '' Let us teach them to 
read, and take them to church ! '' They immediately 
proceeded to try the suggestion, and he and his 
female friend attended the first company of Sunday 
scholars to the church, exposed to the comments 



334 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



and laughter of the populace as they passed along 
with their ragged procession. 

Wesley's earliest notice of Sunday schools is in 
his Journal for July 1 8, 1784, the year of Raikes' 
published account of them. He speaks of .them 
prophetically : '^ I find these schools springing up 
wherever I go ; perhaps God may have a deeper end 
therein than men are aware of; who knows but some 
of these schools may be nurseries, for Christians ? '' 
They w^ere introduced into the metropolis by Row- 
land Hill, in 1786. Wesley mentions in 1786, that 
five hundred and fifty children were taught in the 
Sunday school of his society at Bolton, and the next 
year he found there eight hundred, taught by eighty 
*^ masters.'' Richard Rodda, one of his preachers, 
records that, in 1786, he formed a Sunday school in 
Chester, and soon had nearly seven hundred children 
" under regular masters." Wesley wrote to him in 
the beginning of 1787: *^ I am glad you have taken 
in hand that blessed work of setting up Sunday 
schools in Chester. It seems these will be one great 
means of reviving religion throughout tJie nation, I 
wonder Satan has not yet sent out some able cham- 
pion against them." 

A Presbyterian minister in Scotland, narrating 
the means blessed in the modern revivals there, says, 
with reference to Sunday schools, '' On these the 
blessing of God has abundantly rested. Frequently 
has it been observed that in revivals the Bible- 
classes and Sunday schools have been deeply 
affected ; they have felt the first influence of God's 



THE SUNjDA Y school AND REVIVALS, 335 

grace, and the great work has sometimes commenced 
with them/* 

Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, in his *^ Forty Years in Sun- 
day Schools/' has furnished some very interesting 
facts as to the agency of Sunday schools in gather- 
ing souls to Christ. Looking back to the commence- 
ment of his ministry in Philadelphia, he says, *^ five 
years* ministry at St. Paul's prepared me with a 
knowledge and experience which were brought into 
operation in the successful founding and establish- 
ment of the Church of the Epiphany in the same 
city. That church was founded upon the Sunday- 
school. Its energy and strength were given tothe 
schools. And they were blessed with many very 
precious evidences of the Lord's presence and grace, 
and large numbers from them were gathered to the 
table of the Lord, and already many young ministers 
are in the Lord's work, who have gone forth from 
them." 

He farther says: *' In the 31 years that I have 
been a city pastor, I have received to the Lord's 
table over three hundred youth of both sexes, di- 
rectly from the Sunday school. And I have no 
doubt I might with equal truth add two hundred 
more, uniting with us from the resulting influence of 
previous Sunday school instruction. An early revi- 
val in St. Paul's church in Philadelphia commenced 
in our weekly Sunday^chool prayer-meeting. The 
exercises closed, and the people were dismissed, when, 
rising from my place, I counted sixteen of our youth 
still on their knees on the floor. I went from one 



336 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

to the other with a few words of affectionate and 
pastoral conversation, and appointed Monday even- 
ing as an occasion for their special assembly. On 
the next day I gave notice of this appointment, and 
over seventy youth met me for instruction and 
prayer. It was the divine commencement of a very 
remarkable work of mercy. The result was the 
addition of over one hundred, mostly from the Sun- 
day school, to the communion of the church. The 
subjects of that work are now active and earnest 
Christians, in the maturity of grace." 

In the United States, the wonderful revivals at 
the beginning of the present century were closely 
identified with Sunday schools. Rev. Archibald 
Maclay, pastor of the Mulberry street Baptist church, 
New York, states that a year after that church was 
formed (in 1809) a Sunday school was established; 
and a little later three others. He says that for ten 
years they had almost a perpetual revival, and that 
at least 500 souls were hopefully converted du- 
ring that time. The connection between this Sun- 
day school movement and the large ingathering is 
most suggestive. Eighteen of the converts from the 
school were licensed to preach, and become ministers 
of the gospel. 

Dr. Francis Wayland wrote, in 1842, "Perhaps 
few means have been attended with more invariably 
good effect than the establishment of Bible classes. 
I perhaps should not err in saying that revivals have 
more commonly commenced in Bible classes than 
anywhere else,'* 



THE SUNDA Y SCHOOL AND REVIVALS. 



337 



Dr. W. B. Sprague, about the same time says, 
'* Revivals have of late more frequently commenced 
in Bible classes and Sunday schools than anywhere 
else ; and not a few instances have occurred, in which 
all or nearly all the members of a class have be- 
come hopefully the subjects of renewing grace; 
while the work, which had its beginning here, has 
extended on the right hand and on the left, till mul- 
titudes have experienced its quickening and reno- 
vating influence.'* "' It is a well known fact," he 
adds, "that the records of Sabbath schools and the 
records of revivals are to a great extent identified 
— that the noblest triumphs orGod*s grace have 
often been found in these nurseries of knowledge, 
virtue and piety/' 

In a certain school in New England, in 1832, 
sixty-one out of fifteen classes of 160 pupils, under 
sixteen years of age, became hopefully pious. In 
six classes, embracing seventy-one young persons 
over sixteen years of age, sixty indulged hope that 
they had passed from death unto life, making in all 
one hundred and twenty-one who became hopefully 
pious in a school of 231 scholars. In a County Sab- 
bath-school Society, in Mass., embracing ten parishes, 
and the same number of schools, the Lord smiled 
upon this institution, in 1834-5, and shed down up- 
on it the influence of his Holy Spirit. Six schools 
were blessed with powerful revivals of religion. 
Three hundred scholars from these ten schools made 
a profession during the year. It was supposed the 
15 



338 HANDBOOK OF RE VIVALS, 

whole number that passed from death to life was 
over four hundred. 

It is an interesting circumstance that special ef- 
forts to establish Sunday schools all through New 
York and Brooklyn, were in active progress when 
the revival of 1857 and 1858 commenced. Up to 
this time there was no organized systematic effort 
to establish and sustain mission schools. It was the 
spontaneous effort of individuals. A Sunday school 
Union had existed for years ; but it contemplated 
little more than a bond of union among the sch6ols, 
and made no aggressive movements. Early in the 
year 1855, this organization was given up, and a new 
one formed, with special reference to the missionary 
work; and it became an important element in the 
revival that soon followed. 

The intimate connection between Sunday schools 
and revivals is obvious upon the least reflection. 
Probably there are in the United States some four 
millions of scholars in Sunday schools, with some 
eight hundred thousand teachers. Can anything be 
more important for the cause of the Redeemer than 
revivals of pure religion among these mighty hosts 
of children and youth ? What an amount of sancti- 
fied influence were thereby secured \ 

Several things are necessary in order to the great- 
est efficiency of the Sunday school movement. 
There must be an adequate teaching force ; the 
attendance and improvement of the young ; and 
purity of doctrine in the instruction given. Now 
only by revivals can we have a sufficient number of 



THE SUNDA V SCHOOL AND REVIVALS, 



339 



competent teachers, — themselves taught of God, 
and full of the Spirit, able and willing to discharge 
their high trusts. Revivals give to teachers a tender 
concern for their pupils, right views of their relations, 
and the power of a constraining love. 

They also serve greatly to increase the number 
of those taught. Under a strong heavenly influence, 
teachers go out into the highways and hedges and 
compel the wanderers to come in ; and parents 
gladly cooperate in filling up the school ; while the 
true end of all instruction, the conversion and sanc- 
tification of those who are taught, is gained by the 
mighty power of the Holy Spirit. At the same 
time, the truth '' as it is in Jesus'' is imparted ; for 
it is in a cold, not a revived state of the churches, 
that doctrines are corrupted. 

It must also be remembered, that the pupils in 
the Sabbath schools are generally in the morning of 
life, and that a revival in numbering them as its sub- 
jects, secures the influence of nearly a whole life to 
the cause of truth and piety. When an individual 
comes into the kingdom with the full freshness and 
vigor of youth, there is occasion for joy not merely 
because, from an heir of hell one has become an 
heir of heaven, but because there is reason to hope 
for a useful life in the advancement of the cause 
of Christ. When, therefore, the dews of divine 
grace descend copiously upon Sabbath schools, 
there is an amount of influence secured in favor of 
the interests of the church which outruns all calcu- 
lation. 

IS* 



340 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

Then look upon the Sunday school as an aux- 
iliary in the cause of revivals. We hesitate not to say 
that a more important influence for good, or one 
more actually effective upon the character of men, 
(except always the ministry and the churches, as 
such,) cannot be found than is seen to-day in the 
organized and active Sunday school forces of Chris- 
tendom. Here is at once the material and the 
enginery of revivals. 

What wise pastor, if he desire a revival, does not 
look first to his Sunday school? There are the 
hearts most apt to catch anew the heavenly flame, 
and hands most ready for sanctified service. And 
there are found scores and hundreds of souls in the 
most impressible and hopeful condition of life. The 
present generation of youthful pastors, missionaries, 
teachers, and earnest workers of any kind, are chiefly 
the precious fruits of that which was scattered as a 
handful of corn in early Sunday school efforts. 

There is another point of view in which the influ- 
ence of Sabbath schools is helpful to revivals. We 
refer to the fact that they contribute to right views 
of religious truth, and to the purity of revivals. Dr. 
Archibald Alexander has somewhere said : *' In a 
revival, it makes the greatest difference in the world 
whether the people have been carefully taught, or are 
ignorant of the truths of the Bible. The impression 
on the minds of the people in such a work is the 
exact counterpart of the truth ; just as the impres- 
sion on the wax corresponds to the seal.'' In this 
respect the results of Sunday schools are invaluable. 



THE SUNDA V SCHOOL AND REVIVALS, 7^/^t 

Viewed in whatever light, then, who can resist 
the conviction that through our Sunday schools are 
to be gathered the largest harvests of glory in the 
salvation of men ? There is no rival operation. 
There is no comparable instrument. There is no 
agency to take the place of this great work, even in 
the mose partial degree. 

As to the conditions of increased effectiveness in 
soul-savingy on the part of the Sunday school, several 
things must be secured. 

First of all, ministers and churches must have a 
more lively interest in this department of Christian 
activity. The churches, as such, must come to feel 
that this is the most hopeful scheme for the welfare 
of the people ; and so give to it their sympathies, 
prayers and co-operation. 

And ministers must view Sunday school work as 
not separable from, but a part of their appointed 
ministry. ^^The teachers of my school,*' remarked 
a pastor, ^^are but parts of myself: like the fingers 
of a power-press, they take up the very pages which 
I desire to impress, and smoothly and quietly spread 
them out before me, prepared to receive the blessed 
communications from on high which I long to stamp 
on their minds and hearts forever." This is a 
correct view. Thus the minister reaches out the 
arms of his strength over his congregation, inciting 
all the members to activity, and bringing them into 
harmony and mutual affection. 

Thus, too, is the minister himself benefited. 
There is great force in what has been remarked as to 



342 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

the personal advantage coming to the pastor who is 
closely linked with his school. It makes him more 
effective and real in every other department of his 
duty. It is the very manufacture which the raw ma- 
terial of a multitude of ministers requires to trans- 
form them into useful, appropriate, and practical 
agents in the Lord's house. It mortalizes their min- 
istry, by bringing them down to a practical shape and 
compelling the cultivation of a common-sense habit 
of teaching and address. It converts their abstrac- 
tions into realities, and by making them the ^^ teach- 
ers of babes" makes them the more intelligible and ^ 
useful teachers for all. *' When will ministers cease 
to try to feed their sheep out of horse-racks ?" said a 
plain man once, in expressing his dissatisfaction with 
a sermon which he could not understand. There 
would be less of this if they were used to feeding the 
lambs. 

There must be more of the aggressive spirit in our 
Sunday schools. It is too often the case that a 
school is making no earnest efforts to lengthen its 
borders ; it is content in its own sweet enjoyment, 
which is foreign to the spirit of the gospel. 

Every Sunday school should feel bound to *' go 
up and possess the land/' and rest not so long as 
one child is unembraced in the arms of this compre- 
hensive effort. Where children cannot be gathered 
into the church schools proper, mission schools 
should be established. Indeed, this is a mighty 
Sunday school agency, and not yet half developed 



THE SUNDA V SCHOOL AND REVIVALS, 



343 



Were the aggressive spirit fully to seize our 
schools, what extensive revivals would follow ! 

As another condition of increased efficiency, doc- 
trinal truth must be more thoroughly taught in our 
schools. It is alarming to think what an amount 
of crude and false instruction is given to classes 
every week. We fear that even the three ^' Rs^'' of 
Wm. Jay, are not insisted upon ; — R, — ruined by 
sin : R, — redeemed by Christ : R, — regenerated by 
the Spirit. 

At a Sunday school Convention the following 
conversation occurred between Mr. A. and Mr. B. 

A. What does that text, '^ Feeding lambs," 
mean? 

B. I suppose it refers to the little children. 

A. To all little children ? 

B. Yes, I have so regarded it. 

A. If you call them the lambs of Christ, do you 
not imply that they are either regenerate ones, or 
that they are holy, or in a saved state, without 
regeneration ? 

B. It strikes me you are correct. 

A. Lambs are simply young sheep : they are sheep, 
and Christ applies that term to regenerate ones. 
You might call children kids^ but certainly until 
made Christians by God's renewing spirit, they are 
not lambs. 

B. What, then, did Christ mean when he direct- 
ed Peter to feed his lambs ? 

A. Evidently the weak, uninstructed, inexperienced 
ones of his flock, including of course those of tender 



344 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

years. One recently converted is a lamb, be the age 
what it may. A lamb is one young in experience 
— not necessarily young in years. 

Here the conversation ended. Mr. A. was cor- 
rect ; but how often does Mr. B. find embodiment in 
Sunday school '' talks/' not to say instructions^ even 
from those who are ^' leaders" in this branch of 
effort ! How easy, as we see from this, to inculcate 
the idea that children are little '^ innocent'' things, and 
not needing conversion ! And worse yet, that if they 
are '' good " they will go to heaven ! — pure legalism ! 

Just now doctrinal teaching is decried, and the 
demand is, *^ Teach practical truths ! " But what 
reliance can be placed upon practical teaching that 
has not its origin in a clear, strong, sharply cut sys- 
tem of doctrine ? Who will vouch for its orthodoxy ? 

And all this outcry against teaching the *^ dry 
dogmas" of religion is as utterly unphilosophical as 
it is mischievous. As Dr. Gulliver remarks, if this 
talk were to be taken literally, it would show about 
as much sense as a demand that shipmasters should 
never be taught the principles of navigation ; that 
farmers should only be anxious to learn what their 
grandfathers did ; that physicians should practice 
by a ^^ Dispensatory ; " and parents govern their 
children according to ^^ The Mother's Own Book.'' 

Dr. Arnot, of Scotland, in his Evangelical Alli- 
ance address, in N. Y. in 1873, says with reference 
to the modern theorizers, ** For our convenience they 
have compressed the essence of their system into a 
phrase that is compact and portable. * A grain of 



^HE SUNDA V SCHOOL AND REVIVALS, 



345 



charity is worth a ton of dogma.' The maxim is 
well constructed, and its meaning is by no means 
obscure. If it were true I should have no fault to 
find with it. But as I have seen a mechanic, after 
the rule applied to his work gave unequivocal de- 
cision on its form, turning the rule round and trying 
it the other way, lest some mistake should occur; so 
in this important matter before us, it may be of use 
to express the same maxim in another form, lest 
any fallacy should be left lurking unobserved in its 
folds ; thus " a small stream flowing on the ground 
is worth acres of clouds careering in the sky." In 
this form the maxim is arrant nonsense ; but the 
two forms express an identical meaning, like the 
opposite terms of an algebraic equation. Want- 
ing clouds above us, there could be no streams, 
great or small, flowing at our feet ; so, wanting dog- 
m.a — that is, doctrine revealed by God and received 
by man — there could be no charity. They scorn 
dogma and laud charity — that is, they vilify the 
clouds and sing paeans to running streams !'' 

Again; there must be better aims and the zviser 
use of means, in our Sunday schools in order to their 
greater effectiveness in soul-saving. The teacher's 
thought and plan must be that of a real and living 
messenger of Christ to a little congregation, whose 
eternity may depend upon this immediate relation 
and opportunity. 

And the expectation should be that the pupil 
will be converted. This expectation is the teacher's 
right ; because it is the subject of the divine prom- 
15* 



34^ 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



ise ; and what God has promised we have a right to 
expect. 

Of course this assumes the piety, and the deep 
piety, of the teacher. The piety, we say, for what is 
a Sunday school teacher but a minister of God ? In 
the very nature of the employment it is a work for 
Christians and for them alone. It is really a minis- 
try for souls in eternal things, and at a period of 
life when the impressions received are very perma- 
nent and effectual. As well have unconverted min- 
isters as unconverted Sunday school teachers. In 
either case it would be the blind leading the blind. 
Of all qualifications in a teacher, certainly the essen- 
tial one is regeneration. 

It also assumes that there is deep piety on the 
part of the teacher. Teachers should not only be 
alive to God, but lively for God. They imperatively 
need a real living experience of the power of the 
truth, and the love of the word of God, and an 
earnest desire for the salvation of those to whom it 
is offered, with a real belief that they can be, and 
ought to be saved, under its ministration. This 
constitutes the adaptation of the ministry in the 
pulpit, and is equally the instrument of blessing for 
precious souls in the Sunday school. 

Besides this right aim, there must be the wise 
use of means for the conversion of the unrenewed. 

Personal conversation is one of these means. 
There is much talking at scholars that is not adapted 
to their conversion; but the wise use of personal ap- 
peal is a most cogent and effective ageney. 



i 



THE SUNDA V SCHOOL AND REVIVALS. 



347 



Letter writing is often still better. Where, from 
many causes, conversation cannot be had under 
favorable circumstances, a loving, earnest, tender 
epistle directed to the pupil will produce the desired 
result. No teacher should leave this method untried. 

Visiting from house to house^ not only their own 
scholars, but the family and the neighbors also, is 
a method which wise and earnest teachers will not 
neglect. There are hundreds upon hundreds of 
country towns, thinly settled, and with perhaps not 
population enough to sustain preaching, where Sun- 
day school teachers are the only human reliance for 
the salvation of the inhabitants. God grant them 
grace to be missionaries to the destitute ! 

Positive identification with the pupils is a mighty 
advantage. The scholars will then feel that their 
teachers are their true friends^ and will be ready to 
yield to their influence. 

Prayer with the classes is a powerful instrumen- 
tality. Are there not many classes who never heard 
the voice of their teacher in supplication in their 
behalf? Are there not many pastors who never 
knelt with their Sunday school classes and prayed 
with them ? What an agency is here unused ! The 
writer of this work has few more pleasant memories 
than of those seasons when he has bowed with his 
Sunday school, class by class, so far as time would 
allow, while they knelt around him. At times he has 
requested the scholars, at the close of the lesson, to 
come around him near the platform, and kneel in 
prayer: almost the whole school complying with the 



348 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

request. On such occasions heaven has come nigh 
to earth ! 

Bringing the scholars to the pastor is an incal- 
culable advantage. Especially in times of a revival, 
when many are awakened, is the pastor by this 
means very greatly assisted, and the teacher's influ- 
ence is greatly extended. A good minister will 
always encourage this practice, and wise teachers will 
use their best endeavors towards the same end. 

Meetings for conversation and prayer can hardly 
be held too often. Frequently when it is not sus- 
pected religious concern is felt by a scholar ; and in 
this way it is developed. Many a revival in the 
writer's congregation has begun thus. At first, 
perhaps, there was but one inquirer ; but that was . 
a living coal, and though a little matter, it kindled a 
great fire. 

The Sunday school and Revivals ! How inter- 
esting a topic! What glory from thence already fills 
the heavenly courts ! What numbers of teachers 
and scholars are there rejoicing together before God! 
What numbers are on their way thither ! And what 
encouragements to hope that, as the ages go on, the 
church of Christ will more and more, through this 
source clothe herself with souls *^ as with an orna- 
ment, and bind them on her as a bride doeth 1 " 

"• O Lord, Revive Thy Work ! " 



CHAPTER XVL 

TREATMENT OF INQUIRERS. 

P> ASTORS of inexperience, and even skilled work* 
ers, are often perplexed as to the treatment 
of inquirers. And the matter is one of exceed- 
ing importance. Most responsible is the office of an 
adviser under such interesting circumstances. It is 
perhaps the crisis of a soul. The mind is in a state 
to be easily influenced, and the subject is one involv- 
ing all the interests of eternity. Of what vast con- 
sequence may a word, a suggestion, an item of 
advice now be ! 

The condition of a soul then is like that of a sick 
person when in the critical period, and the case is 
balancing between life and death. And the concern 
of the spiritual adviser may well be greater than that 
of the physician, who watches each symptom, and 
anxiously counts the number of the pulse-beats in a 
minute ! 

Nor can it be doubted that false instruction is 
often given, even by those who have been taught of 
God. Not every Christian is fit to talk to inquirers. 
The warm-hearted and enthusiastic may mislead ; 
and if inexperienced and unintelligent, it were well 
for them to leave this service to other hands. A 
x6 



350 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



master workman in spiritual things, once said, " the 
more experience I have, and the more I observe the 
workings of things, the more suspicious I am of the 
attempts of even, good people to direct their anxious 
friends/* 

Yet directions to inquirers should be given. It 
is an error of some to limit all advice to this : ^^ Re- 
pent and believe/' Can the sinner do this before 
understanding at least something of what it is? A 
large part of the conduct of a revival consists in 
counselling the awakened ; and on the manner in 
which this duty is performed, as much as anything, 
depend both the character of the work and its re- 
sults. How important, therefore, that ministers 
and members be so enlightened as to be safe guides 
on this momentous subject ; that thus they may 
never put in jeopardy the interests of those whom 
they attempt to direct. 

Perhaps we can best discuss the subject, by pro- 
posing and answering several questions. . 

I . What are some of the methods of ascertaining 
and approaching inquirers ? 

Requesting them to call upon the pastor is one 
of these. Good ministers have always encouraged 
the anxious to make it known, by coming to them 
for conversation and advice, either singly or together. 
The practice is every way desirable. 

Written requests for prayer^ either sent to the 
pastor at his home, or handed in for presentation at 
meetings, is another method. This does not identify 
the inquirers, to a great extent, but it is a useful 



TREA TMEN T OF INQ HIRERS. 3 5 1 

custom, and greatly resorted to of late in almost 
all revival meetings. Dr. Payson adopted the plan 
of having a box at the church-door, in which written 
requests for prayer were deposited. 

RistJtg for prayer is another method. Half a 
century ago this became quite common, though some 
strongly objected to it, especially in large assemblies. 
The practice, however, has secured quite general 
sanction, and is common in almost all meetings in 
times of special interest. 

Anxious seats (as they were unfortunately called) 
became common about the same time. It cannot be 
said that they met with general approval ; and the 
more conservative pastors strongly discountenanced 
them. 

Coming forzvard for prayer, {which is little else 
than the above,) is very general in revival meetings. 
We do not see that exception can be taken to the 
thing itself, though methods sometimes used to per- 
suade, urge, and almost force attendants thus to pre- 
sent themselves, should not be countenanced. The 
advantage here claimed is that the person is thus cojfi- 
mitted to serious things. The objection that '^ there 
is great danger, when you persuade a man who is 
not yet converted, publicly to commit himself, that 
he will be induced by other than religious feelings 
and motives to persevere and come into the church, 
and hang as a dead weight upon the cause,'' docs 
not seem to have force. Nor yet again, another, 
sometimes urged, that this encourages forwardness, 
ostentation, and rashness. Where discretion is used, 



352 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



we do not see how harm can come from the practice, 
provided the state of things seems to call for it. It 
is in place to state that Dr. Nettleton never adopted 
the anxious seat, nor requested persons to rise in the 
assembly to be prayed for, or to signify that they 
had given their hearts to God, or that they had 
made up their minds to attend to the subject of re- 
ligion. 

Inquiry meetings are now almost universally ap- 
proved. Dr. Humphrey writes thus : ^* Among the 
means which God has signally blessed in carrying 
forward revivals of religion, meetings for personal 
conversation with the awakened are found to hold 
an important place. These meetings are by com- 
mon consent called Inquiry meetings, in distinction 
from all others — a better name, I think, could not be 
given them. And in the progress of a powerful re- 
vival, when large numbers are in the several stages 
of alarm and inquiry, they are so essential, that no 
pastor who would make the most of his strength, 
can dispense with them. When they were first in- 
troduced among the means which God has been 
pleased to own in the glorious '^ times of refreshing 
from his presence," I do not know. In the great re- 
vivals at the beginning of the present century, I 
neither saw nor heard of such inquiry meetings. 
Indeed, my first acquaintance with them was about 
1817, it might be a little earlier, when Mr. Nettleton 
was in the midst of his remarkable career, going from 
place to place in the shining armor of his mission, 
*^ the Lord working mightily with him,** wherever he 



TREA TMENT OF INQ UIRERS, 353 

went. He held inquiry meetings, {a7txious mQQi\r\gs 
as he called them,) and felt that in the midst of a 
large revival he could not do without them. Other 
highly favored servants of the Lord, ever since his 
day, have felt so ; and such inquiry meetings as he 
held are now almost as firmly established, where 
God pours out his Spirit, as special meetings for 
prayer." 

** The two great objects of an inquiry meeting are, 
to ascertain the actual state of the revival, and in a 
very few words to drop into the ear of the inquirer, 
such advice as seems to be wanted at the moment. 
Where the number is large, there is no time for 
extended conversation ; but as he passes round, the 
pastor will ascertain where it is needed, and will 
reserve such cases for personal interviews elsewhere. 
The meeting should always be opened with a short 
prayer, and all should be requested to kneel. Some 
may regard the posture as a matter of very little 
consequence; but it is ^^ much every way.*' It 
brings down stiff knees, that perhaps have never 
kneeled before ; begets a sacred awe and reverence 
which pertains to no other posture ; and no other 
posture should be encouraged at such a meeting, 
where there is room to kneel. In passing round, the 
minister may either speak to each individual, in a 
voice not so low but that those who sit next can 
hear at least a part of what is said, or lower it down 
to a whisper, so that the individual alone can hear.'' 

What we consider the best method of conducting 
inquiry meetings is brought out in the above. We 



354 HAXDBQOK OF REVIVALS. 

add an item or two. The pastor, in these meetings 
may well make a memorandum of the names of the 
inquirers : and endeavor to be able to identify each 
one. It is also an excellent practice when all are 
kneeling, for the leader to give to the inquirers 
zuords to repeat after him, in the simplest and most 
direct form of supplication, confession, and self-dedi- 
cation. We have found this of ver\- great advan- 
tage. When any important thought is suggested 
by the answers elicited, it is well to throw it out to 
the meeting, as briefly as possible, and then pass 
on. We always make it a practice, too, to give to 
inquirers tracts, or pamphlets, adapted either to 
awaken, or direct, as the case may seem to require. 
This is of great importance ; as reading will tend 
to fix upon the mind the impression which the con- 
versation may have made, and lead to clearer views 
of truth and duty. 

Invitations to remain after the assembly is dis- 
missed^ is another method of access to inquirers ; 
though it is apt to lead to the continuance of meet- 
ings to unreasonable hours, which, except in the 
most extreme cases, should be avoided. 

The above are some available methods of com- 
ing into contact with inquirers. 

2. ]]yiat should be sojne of the primary objects in 
dealing zuith inquirers ? 

First of all to obtain an exact knoivledge of their 
mental condition. Such points as these should re- 
ceive attention : What is the true cause of the appar- 
ent concern ? What has produced it ? How long has 



TREA TMEN T OF INQ UIRERS. 355 

it been felt ? Is there real sincerity ? Is there a 
sense of sin ? How much knowledge has this person 
of scripture truth? Upon what subject is light most 
needed? Is there genuine conviction, or is it only 
the temporary excitement of the sympathies and 
feelings ? And is there a fixed determination, or 
otherwise ? 

Careful instruction should be another chief object. 
Truth is the instrument in conversion. Therefore 
the great thing is to bring truth to bear upon the 
mind. Difficulties must be cleared up; darkness 
dissipated ; errors removed. Light, light, — this is 
the great thing required. 

Ge7tuine conviction should be a chief object aim- 
ed at. There may be conviction enough to bring 
the sinner to you for counsel, when there is not 
enough to bring him to Christ for salvation. There 
should be no superficial work here. Let sin be 
spread out before the mind. Let the length and 
breadth of the law be enlarged upon. Get at the 
conscience ; never be drawn aside into either specu- 
lations, or doctrinal discussions. Charge home guilt. 
Show a present condemnation, and an impending 
peril. Press the duty of immediate repentance, and 
set forth the awful guilt of unbelief and the rejection 
of Christ. 

The following statement by Dr. Payson, of his 
aims in meeting inquirers, answers very happily, in 
its main aspects, the question under consideration. 
He says : ^* We should endeavor to bring sinners to 
the same point to which God would bring them. 



356 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

This point is a complete self-despair and hope in 
Christ. The former is a pre-requisite to the latter. 
I therefore aim in the first place to increase their 
convictions of sins, especially of the great damning 
sin of unbehef. If they ask, What shall we do ? I 
never dare give them any other answer than that 
given by Christ, and his apostles : ' Repent, and be- 
lieve the Gospel.* I insist much on the character 
of God ; the strictness, extent, and spirituality of his 
law ; the various artifices, deceptions, and excuses 
of the heart'; the false hopes of sinners and hypo- 
crites ; the nature of true and false conversion ; and 
the great danger of being deceived. I also frequent- 
ly warn them of the dreadful consequences of delay- 
ing repentance, grieving the Spirit, losing their con- 
victions, or resting on false hopes, like the stony- 
ground hearers. I labor especially to convince them 
that all the difficulties which oppose their salvation 
lie in their own hearts — that Christ is willing to save 
them — but they are unwilling to be saved in his way 
and are therefore without excuse. This is a very 
important point. I have seen none go back who ap- 
peared to be truly convinced of this. In addition to 
this, I say much of the glory, beauty, and sufficiency 
of Christ, and of the perfect freeness of the blessings 
which he offers, and endeavor to show them the hor- 
rid pride, ingratitude, etc., of neglecting to accept 
of them." 

3. What are some of the cri^ors and obstacles com- 
mon to inquirers? A prominent one is, that they 
must make themselves better and so recommend them- 



TREA TMENT OF INQ HIRERS, 357 

selves, in some sense, to the favor of God. They 
are slow to apprehend that they have but to accept 
the proffers made in the Gospel. 

Hence the legal way of seeking salvation is uni- 
versal in the early stages of awakening. For this 
reason inquirers must be shown the utter futility of 
their works, and the duty of accepting the finished 
work of Christ. 

Waiting for feeling is another error with inquirers. 
They often imagine that if only -they could have 
some overwhelming sense of sin, some awful terror, 
and shed copious tears, then they would be saved. 
Flence they must be shown that there is no virtue 
whatever in all their bad feelings. We sometimes 
put it in this way : Were you in a house on fire, 
would you make no effort to escape from the devour- 
ing element until you felt the flames ? If bitten by a 
rabid animal, would you wait until you felt the 
spasms before you sought a remedy ? If a sick man 
has enough of pain and a sense of danger to make 
him willing to take the proffered remedy, he has 
feeling enough. So if you have feeling enough to 
cause you to wish to be a Christian, to feel your 
need of a Saviour, that is feeling enough. 

Desiring deeper convictions is similar to the 
above. And here the sinner must be made to see 
that all this is but a species of self-righteousness : 
that he fancies, perhaps unconsciously, that there is 
some merit in pangs of repentance. Should a stub- 
born child imagine he is gaining anything by his 
agony? Shall he pray for more conviction ? Docs 



358 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

that make him any better ? Does his father pity 
him any more because he stands out? 

Protracted sorrows of mind are often considered 
necessary by inquirers. They are fearful of finding 
salvation too soon. It is well, then, to point to the 
scriptures, and ask : Did you ever find in the Bible 
a command that you must have this feeling or that 
feeling before you could believe on Christ ? Did our 
Lord tell Nicodemus to go home and wait until his 
heart was broken, and then come again and receive 
life? Did the apostles tell the thousands who were 
awakened by Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, 
to wait for further light or further conviction ? And 
have you not erred in supposing that salvation is an 
emotion, or a feeling, or a series of these, rather than 
a new life begun in faith ? 

Waiting for the heart to be changed is much the 
same thing. ^'What?" say they, ^' am I to repent 
and believe in Christ before my heart is changed?'' 
Now the simple answer is, that the change of heart 
is the very thing in question. God requires sinners 
to love him. Tliat is a change of heart. God re- 
quires them to repent. That is a change of heart. 
God requires the sinner to believe the Gospel. That 
is a change of heart. God does not tell us to wait till 
the heart is changed. The very word itself, repent^ 
signifies a change of mind or heart. 

Layiiig out so7ne plan for God to change thein in 
is a frequent thing with inquirers. It must be made 
plain that this is all wrong ; that they must not lay 
out a path beforehand, but let God lead them as he 



TREA TMEN T OF INQ UIRER S. 3 5 g 

sees to be best ; and that he always leads the blind 
by a way they know not. Never was a sinner 
brought into the kingdom through such a course of 
feeling as he expected. 

Among the obstacles often lying in the way of 
the progress of inquirers are the following : 

Expecting so7ne marvellous and sudden change. 
Often they are anticipating some wondrous appear- 
ance, or some tangible impression, as if God would 
speak to them, or lay hold upon them, or prostrate 
them, like Saul, to the earth; or something of this 
kind. They must be told that some have more 
marked views and exercises than others : but that 
nothing of this kind is to be expected ; and that 
oftenest the Spirit comes as the "" still, small voice." 
The transition may be like ushering from midnight 
darkness into noon. But oftenest, the light comes 
as that of the rising sun : first whitening, and then 
reddening the eastern sky ; and so, little by little, 
approaching the perfect day. 

Dread of having committed the unpardonable 
sin may hold one back from comfort. In such a 
case it must be shown that the fact of their concern 
is evidence of not having thus sinned. '' Where this 
sin is committed God has said, '' let him alone," and 
since you are not let alone, it is proof that mercy is 
still proffered." 

Trying to do too much is a frequent obstacle. 
Let it be inquired : '' In what manner arc you striv- 
ing? Is it not in a self-righteous spirit.^ And will 



36o 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



you not now stop trying to save yourself, and simply 
lay hold of the arm of Christ? 

A supposed willingness to be saved is often enter- 
tained. They say: '* Oh, yes, I am perfectly willing 
to do this, or that ; I wish I could do it ; I would 
give anything if I could do it/' They must then be 
made to see that, being truly willing is doing it ; but 
there is a difference between willing and desiring. 
People often desire to be Christians, when they are 
w^hoUy unwilling to be so. 

Leaning upon the minister^ or some one else for 
helpy is sometimes a bar to progress. In that case 
stand out of the way : withdraw for a season, until 
it is felt that every prop has failed, and that no 
finite power in the universe can help. 

Failing to relinquish what is demaiided fre- 
quently stands in the w^ay of peace. Ascertain the 
truth on these points : Is there not some idol, some 
darling object, some indulgence, that you are not 
willing to give up ? Are you not retaining a preju- 
dice, or ill will, or an angry and unforgiving spirit 
toward some one? Or is there not some redress or 
confession to an injured person which you refuse to 
make ? 

An idea that they are not converted often pre- 
vents peace on the part of those truly changed. Ed- 
wards says of some of the converts under his eye : 
" It does not so much as come into their minds that 
they are converted : and very often the reason is 
that they do not see that they do accept of this suffi- 
ciency of salvation which they behold in Christ, 



TREA TMENT OF INQ HIRERS. 361 

having entertained a wrong notion of acceptance." 
And Dr. Hallock remarks, '' During my experience 
in revivals, I have often found that a man who is 
but recently born of the Spirit would often say, ^ No 
sir,' should you ask him if he is converted ; and yet 
I may have much better evidence of his real change 
than I have of another, who has an early and confi- 
dent hope." Says Henry Ward Beecher, '' A disease 
may pass its crisis, and for hours and days one may 
not be conscious of it. My own observation has led 
me to the conclusion that more persons become 
true Christians without sudden joy, and without the 
consciousness, at the time, of transition, or a great 
change, than with it." 

4. What are some of the counsels which are unwise^ 
ly and injudiciously given to inquirers ? 

We specify the following : 

^' Be patient and wait God's time!' God's time 
is now. And is one to be *^ patient'* in his sins? 
TeUing the sinner to wait for God to convert him is 
telling him to continue in sin a while longer. Any 
direction given to sinners that does not require them 
immediately to obey God is an indulgence to sin. It 
is in effect giving them liberty still to fight against 
God. Such directions are wicked and cruel. It is 
pleading the sinner's cause against God. 

^'Continue to use the means and strive on^' is of 
the same nature. By no means discourage, but 
rather enjoin, the use of the means of grace ; but 
insist upon an instantaneous surrender to God's 
claims. To direct one to keep on using the means 
16 



362 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

IS to abate the sense of guilt, and lull the soul into 
stupidity, or else, to put the inquirer upon a course 
of self-righteous effort. God calls the sinner to re- 
pent ; he threatens him ; he persuades him ; he 
uses motives ; and the sinner is distressed to agony 
because he sees himself driven to the dreadful alter- 
native of giving up his sins or going to hell. He 
ought instantly to relent and lay down his weapons. 
But he resists, and struggles against conviction, and 
that creates his distress. Now will you tell him to 
persevere? Persevere in what? In struggling 
against God? That is just the direction Satan 
would give. All he wants is to see him persevere in 
just the way he is going on, and his destruction is 
sure. The seat of all the trouble is in his own will. 

A venerable minister in the West, now in glory, 
used to relate the following incident with bitter 
tears : ^* In my early ministr}% a woman came to me 
to inquire what she should do to be saved. I told 
her to go home and read the Bible and pray, be 
careful of her conduct, and attend upon all the 
means of grace. Some time after, I saw her, and 
inquired if she had followed my directions. She 
said she had, and felt better. But she had settled 
down into a state of quiet security, from which I 
could never awaken her. I felt that I had murdered 
her soul ; and I determined from that day forward, 
that I would never again give a direction to an in- 
quiring sinner, which, if followed, would not save 
his soul.'' 

^'Your condition is encouraging ; I Jiope you will 



TREA TMEN'T OF INQ UIRERS. 363 

soon be rejoicing^' is dangerous language to a dis- 
tressed soul. Of Dr. Nettleton it is said, he was 
careful never to allay the fears of inquirers. He 
never expressed to them the opinion that their con- 
dition was hopeful. On the contrary, he gave them 
to understand, that while they remained impenitent, 
there was an awful uncertainty whether they would 
be saved. He urged the duty of immediate repent- 
ance, and showed them that they could do nothing 
short of repentance which would in the least degree 
improve their condition. 

^' Try to repent and give your heart to God, and 
ask hi7n to /le/p you,^'' it ohJQctionahle language. "I 
am willing to try ; I have tried, and what more can 
I do ?'' is the answer to your counsel. All this is 
just what a rebellious heart wants. It relaxes the 
pressure of present obligation^ and helps to cast the 
blame of continued impenitence on God. 

Besides the above, there are expressions used in 
prayer liable to mislead inquirers ; — such as these : 
'* Have mercy on these penitent ones," or — ^' on 
those seeking thy love to know,'' or — ^* those who 
are seeking thee sorrowing^' and the like. It is bet- 
ter, on several accounts, to refrain from the use of 
set phrases like these. 

5. What specific directions may zvith safety be 
given to inquirers ? 

It is always safe to urge the sinner to repent. 
And it should be shown that this is the exercise of 
godly sorrow for sin. When one truly repents, he 
sees that God has been in the right, and he in the 



364 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



wrong ; that his laws are holy, just, and good, and 
by those laws he is justly condemned. A sense of 
the goodness of God affects him ; he is ready to cry 
out, ^* How could I sin against One so kind, so lov- 
ing, so patient, so forbearing ! Ah, me ! wretch that 
I am ! I am undone, I deserve the lowest hell ! ^ God 
be merciful to me a sinner ! * '' 

It is always safe to urge one to believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, And it is important to show 
what true gospel faith is. The things to be believed 
must be set before the mind : — particularly, what 
God has said concerning the work and deservings of 
his Son. '' You are to believe that he satisfied di- 
vine justice for human guilt ; that he became a pro- 
pitiation for our sins ; that what he did and suffered, 
is a ground for pardon to sinners ; that since he 
died they need not die ; and that however guilty 
you may be, yet, repenting of ^sin, and trusting in 
him, his merit becomes, as it were, yours ; and by it 
you are saved.'' 

Also the act of believing is to be explained : — 
that it is receiving Christ, trusting in him ; fleeing 
to him ; coming to him ; looking to him, and the 
like. Particularly, must appropriating faith be made 
plain. ^' It is the ear of the soul whereby the sinner 
* hears the voice of the Son of God and lives ; ' the 
palate of the soul whereby he ^ tastes the good word 
of God and the powers of the world to come ; ' the 
feeling of the soul, whereby he perceives the pres- 
ence of him whom he seeks ; the hand of the soul 






TREA TMENT OF INQ UIRERS, 365 

whereby he reaches forth and takes all the fulness 
of Christ to himself/' 

It IS always safe to exhort one to confess and for- 
sake sin: — to confess it on the knees before God, 
with all honestness and earnestness, and to loathe 
and turn away from it. 

It is always safe to urge submission to God, 
" Suppose a rebel in arms against a king was called 
on to submit. What would he understand by it ? 
Why, that he should yield the point, and lay down 
his arms. That is just what it means for a sinner to 
submit to God. He must cease his strife and con- 
flict against his Maker, and peace with him/' 

It is always safe to urge the present as the best 
time for making salvation sure. " There is a special 
energy and efficiency in the means of grace : the 
Spirit is near : ministers preach and Christians pray 
with unwonted earnestness ; and from many causes 
you may never see so favorable a moment as now.'* 

It is always safe to warn against seeking salvation 
in a selfrigJiteous spirit. This is so natural, and so 
subtle a thing, that it should be guarded against at 
every point. 

It is always safe to set forth Christ's ivillingness 
and the extreme simplicity of the plan of salvation. 
During a religious awakening in a factory village in 
New England, a foreman was awakened, but he 
could not find peace. His superior sent him a letter, 
requesting him to call at six o'clock. Promptly he 
came. *^ I see you believe me,'* said his master. 
The foreman assented. ^* Well, see ; here is another 



366 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



letter sending for you by One who is equally in 
earnest," said his master, holding up a slip of paper 
with some texts of Scripture written on it. He took 
the paper and began to read it slowly, '^ Come — u7ito 
vie — all — ye — that — labor^' etc. His lips quivered, 
his eyes filled with tears, and he joyfully said, "I see 
it : I am to believe tJiat in the same way I believed 
your letter ! " 

It is always safe to urge an immediate coming to 
Christ, " No reformation can be genuine till you 
come to Christ. No preparation is needed for com- 
ing to him ; and none can be made.'' 

It is always safe to tell of Jesus and his dying 
love. We are told of an old emblem in the shape of 
a lock, constructed of rings, on each, of which was a 
letter, and which would unlock only when those 
rings were so arranged as to spell the word Jesus. 
Apt emblem of the human heart in yielding'to the 
power of the cross I Was one ever kno^^^l to open 
except to the name of jESUS ? 

It is always safe to state that an actual sense of 
7infitness is true fitness, ]\Ir. W^hitfield, brother of 
the noted preacher, had fallen into a desponding 
state. In conversation with the Countess of Hunt- 
ingdon one day, he said, '* My lady, I know what you 
say is true : the mercy of God is infinite : I see it 
clearly. But, ah ! my lady, there is no mercy for me 
— I am a wretch, entirely lost.'' '' I am glad to hear 
it, Mr. Whitfield," said Lady H. '' I am glad at my 
heart that you are a lost man." He looked .with 
great surprise. '' What, my lady, glad ! glad at your 



TREA TMENT OF INQUIRERS, 367 

heart that I am a lost man ? '' " Yes, Mr. Whitfield, 
truly glad ; for Jesus Christ came into the world to 
save the lost ! " He laid down his cup of tea on the 
table. ^^ Blessed be God for that," ^^ Glory to God 
for that word/' he exclaimed. "Jesus Christ came to 
save the lost ! then I have a ray of hope ! '' 

It is always safe to urge a perpetual looking to 
Christ. Mr. Spurgeon tells how when in trouble 
about his soul he heard a sermon on the text " Look 
unto me, etc.'* — " Fixing his eyes on me, as I thought, 
before he began to preach to others, he said : 
"- Young man ! look ! look ! look ! You are one of 
the ends of the earth ; you feel you are ; you know 
your need of a. Saviour ; you are trembling because 
you think he will never save you. He says this 
morning, ^ Look ! ' O how my soul was shaken 
within me then ! What ! thought I, does that man 
know me, and all about me? He seemed as if he 
did. And it made me *look!* Well, I thought, 
lost or saved, I will try ; sink or swim, I will run the 
risk of it ; and in that moment I hope by his grace I 
looked upon Jesus, and though desponding, down- 
cast, and ready to despair, and feehng that I could 
rather die than live as I had lived, at that very mo- 
ment it seemed as if a young heaven had had its 
birth within my conscience." 

It is always safe to urge approach to God in 
Christ's name, " A beggar comes to you for charity. 
You have no ready money, but you give him a 
check on the bank. He enters the door, the bank 
officers stare at him as he enters — poor, ragged, 



368 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

filthy, wretched — they think that he is caught but a 
common beggar seeking alms, perhaps, but he goes 
to the counter, he presents his check. The cashier 
does not look at the beggar or his rags any more ; 
he looks at the name at the bottom of the check, 
and if that is genuine the money is handed the 
bearer. It is the name that does it — that and noth- 
ing more. So it is in salvation.'* 

It is always safe to set forth the freeness and 
fulness of Christ's righteousness : As John Wesley 
had come to life's close, a group of friends around 
him knelt in prayer. He responded the amen with 
unusual fervor. Soon after he exclaimed : ** There is 
no need for more than what I said at Bristol ; my 
words then were : 

* I the chief of sinners am. 
But Jesus died for me/ 

"Is this the present language of your heart?** 
asked one of his friends, *^ and do you now feel as 
you did then ? " " Yes," he replied. ** 'Tis enough/* 
rejoined his friend; ** He, our precious Immanuel, 
has purchased, has promised all.'* "- He is all ! he 
is all! I will go ! ** responded the dying man. 

6. What are the evidences of conversion that may 
safely be put before inquirers ? No question could 
be more momentous. O what a responsibility to 
undertake to give directions here ! Never was an 
angel employed in a more solemn work than are we 
in telling a sinner when he may safely entertain a 
hope ! The judgment fires will reveal our work, of 



TREA TMENT OF INQUIRERS, ^Qg 

what sort it is ! One thing it is always safe to do, 
namely, to be S2ire that the work is deep and thor- 
ough. Our fathers and mothers used to talk of 
*^ experiencing religion/' and no term could be bet- 
ter. To-day we hear the objectionable expression, 
'^ getting religion,'' or, ^^ has got religion." Let us 
be satisfied that there is a real experience of the 
change of heart by the power of God. 

Mr. Earle has given away many thousands of 
little cards on which are printed the following ^* Evi- 
dences of conversion for young Christians." 

1. A full surrender of the will to God. 

2. The removal of a burden of sin gradually or 
suddenly. 

3. A new love to Christians and to Jesus. 

4. A new relish for the word of God. 

5. Pleasure in secret prayer, at least at times. 

6. Sin or sinful thoughts will cause pain. 

7. Desire and efforts for the salvation of others. 

8. A desire to obey Christ in his commands and 
ordinances. 

9. Deep humility and self-abasement. 

10. A growing desire to be holy and like Christ. 

It is safe to hold such language as this in conver- 
sation with those inclined to entertain a hope : ^' By 
fervent prayer for divine illumination, and by search- 
ing the Scriptures, you may know in whom you 
have believed. You may have the witness in your- 
selves, more or less clear according to the earnestness 
of your seeking in reliance upon the aid of the Holy 
Spirit, who alone can take of the things of Christ, 
16* 



370 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



and show them unto you. What, then, do you say 
for yourself? You know where you were once, sink- 
ing in the horrible pit and the miry clay. Where 
do you now stand ? .^ Has Christ brought you up 
and placed your feet upon a rock ? Do you begin 
to feel its firmness, and rest upon it ? Can you say, 
'^ One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, 
now I see ? *' Have you seen the plague of your 
own heart, and heartily repented of all your sins? 
Have you new views and new desires? Do you 
approve of the law of God, which is holy, just, and 
good? Have you been brought to see the impossi- 
bility of saving yourselves, and have you by the 
grace of God fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope 
set before you in the gospel ? Has your mind within 
these few weeks passed through a great change ? 
Do you love that which you before hated, and hate 
that which you loved? Do you love the Bible ; do 
you love the prayer-meeting; do you love the house 
of God ; do you love the brethren ? Time was when 
you saw no beauty in the Saviour, that you should 
desire him. How is it now? Is he precious to your 
soul ? And on him do you rest all your hope ? " 

'' O Lord, Revive Thy Work ! '' 



CHAPTER XVII. 

TRAINING THE CONVERTS. 

r^AINING converts is one thing; training them 
^■^ is another thing. Failing properly to appreciate 
this fact, many pastors fail to build up the churches. 
The list of communicants is not always an index of 
church-power. Strength consists not in numbers, 
but in character. When Gideon had mustered all 
his soldiers for the war with Midian and Amalek, 
*' The Lord said unto him, the people that are with 
thee are too many.'' With the number reduced there 
was more effectiveness. 

A revival brings with it tremendous responsibili- 
ties. It loads the pastor and members with new 
obligations. With the accession of converts there 
come the questions, ^^ What is to be done with these 
fresh professors ? How much of this material shall 
turn out to be little less than dross and chaff, and 
how much of it solid substance?" 

If revivals are graduated in their value only by 
the number of supposed converts ; if all the atten- 
tion of the church is drawn to the single point of 
securing conversions, without any regard to the 
ripening of them; if it be supposed that nothing is 
of course doing when there are no conversions ; if 
there is no thought of cultivation, no valuation of 



272 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

knowledge and character, no conviction of the fact 
that one Christian well taken care of and developed 
4s worth a hundred mere beginners, a most inade- 
quate and pernicious opinion prevails. 

Indeed, as matter of fact, how distressing is the 
picture which often forces itself upon the mind, 
where multitudes are hopefully converted, and yet 
so little pains taken with the converts that in a 
single year one can hardly tell the converts from the 
world ! 

On this very account the whole theory of revivals 
is reproached. And if we answer, ^^ It is not the 
fault of the revival that the fruits are not perma- 
nently good, but because there is lack of cultivation^' 
still, the circumstance has its influence, and operates 
to produce a suspicion of all special ingatherings. 

It will hardly be too much to say, that if the 
churches had done their full duty to the converts, 
the world would have been given to Christ before 
now. ^* Feed my sheep ; feed my lambs," — /. ^., ' act 
toward them the part of the shepherd, — guiding 
them, protecting them, nourishing them,* — this is a 
command to all Christian leaders. And we ques- 
tion whether the churches yet fairly begin to appre- 
hend the duty of bestowing culture upon the young 
members of the flock, — the lambs of Jesus. From 
this cause half the benefit of revivals is lost. 

The force of this thought is enhanced by consid- 
ering that the convert only is in the ductile, 
shapeable period. The wax is now warm, and read- 
ily takes the seal ; the clay is moist, and the hand 



TRAINING THE CONVERTS, 373 

of the potter may form it as he Wills. There is but 
one convert-period, as there is but one child-period, 
and whatever is done then to mould the character, 
will exert a far more decisive influence than any- 
thing done at a future period ; and upon the coun- 
sels and directions which an individual receives at 
such a moment, depends in a very great degree the 
amount of good which he is to accomphsh during 
his whole life. 

We condense what is to be said here into a few 
suggestions, suitable, first, for instructors; second, 
for converts themselves. 

I. Duties on the part of pastor and people. 

Acquaintanceship is a first duty. In large con- 
gregations, especially in cities, it is not easy to know 
intimately a company of new comers. Shall we say 
that to a great extent such acquaintance is never 
formed? Shall we say that members of the same 
church do not know each other, — not even suffi- 
ciently to recognize one another on the street ? 
Such is the case ; and if the church is a family, what 
a strange family that is, and how is it possible that 
there be reciprocal duties and affections ? 

The pastor then, especially, will seek an acquaint- 
ance with all the converts, and the more intimate the 
better. It will be well to carry with him a list of the 
names of these, which he will look over occasionally 
to facilitate identification and recognition. And tlie 
same should be true of the older members generally, 
as far as possible. 

Instruction is another duty. The babes need 



374 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



teaching ; and the church is the appointed teacher, 
particularly through the pastor. Converts' meetings 
will therefore be held ; not only for their own mutual 
edification, but for pastoral counsel and direction. 
It is the sacred duty of the minister to meet the 
young disciples there, and instruct them fully in the 
things of the kingdom. He will also see that they 
are in the Sunday school, or in Bible classes, still 
farther to be taught. We always enjoin this upon 
converts, and see that it is done ! If not already in 
the Sunday school, the right time to introduce them 
is when they are setting out in the new life. It is 
said of Nettleton that he took great pains to instruct 
young converts in the fundamental principles of the 
christian religion. He would often appoint meet- 
ings for their special benefit. In these meetings he 
was wont to explain and enforce in a familiar man- 
ner, the doctrines of the gospel. Hence the young 
converts became rooted and grounded in the truth 
and continued steadfast in the faith. In this way 
also, they became acquainted with one another, and 
receiving the same doctrines and drinking into the 
same spirit, they became united as a band of breth- 
ren. 

The remark was made by Rev. Daniel A. Clark, 
as to some converts, that " they would not have 
known when they were converted, who converted 
them, or what they were converted for.'* Accessions 
of this sort, certainly if allowed to remain such, would 
only weaken a church. Defective instruction must 
dwarf the new nature, since truth is the food upon 



TRAINING THE CONVERTS. 375 

which it grows. Where religious character is feeble, 
it is generally because neglected, or wrongly instruct- 
ed, at the outset. And there is an awful criminaHty 
here, on the part of very many pastors. It is simply 
alarming to see how little careful instruction is given 
to converts. 

It were well if pastors, subsequent to revival in- 
gatherings, should lay out and pursue a plan of sys- 
tematic instruction for the converts, embracing the 
evidences of Christianity, the principal Scripture doc- 
trines, the confession or articles of faith held by the 
church, and the covenant engagements entered into 
upon profession. No member of a church should 
have it in his power to say, ** The confession of faith 
was never explained to me before I joined the 
church. There are some things in it which I do not 
believe ; and if I had known how they were under- 
stood by the church, I should not have come in.'' 

Reception to membership is another duty on the 
part of the church. Every convert should be en- 
couraged, at a proper time, to make a public profes- 
sion of religion. Opinion differs as to hoiv soon 
after hopeful conversion a profession should gener- 
ally be made. That is a question for each church to 
decide for itself, and no one rule is applicable in all 
cases. There may be rash and premature admis- 
sions ; and there may be too much delay. 

Watch care is another duty. A church should 
watch over all the interests of her young members ; 
know where they are ; and what are their habits, 
temptations, dangers, privileges, state of religion in 



376 



HA XD BOOK OF REVIVALS. 



their hearts, spirit of prayer, and the Hke. If they 
are seen to be going astray, they are to be exhorted 
and admonished. But this should be done with all 
kindness, considerateness, and affection. The heart 
of a young convert is tender and easily grieved, and 
sometimes a single unkind look or word will cast a 
cloud over the mind, and throw one back for a lifetime. 

As a rule, sufficient allowance is not made for 
those young in experience ; and the too frequent 
habit of complaining oi them, is much to be regretted. 
Converts are but children, at best, and if those who 
are ever ready to speak of the deficiencies of the 
'* young members of the church," were as attentive 
to watch over and help them, as they are to condemn 
them, it were at once more beneficial and more pleas- 
ing to God. 

II. Tilings profitable to be kept before the mind 
of coni'crts. 

1. That the religious character is now taking 
shape. First steps are usually most decisive. Urge 
upon them this thought ; — that the tone of piety and 
of action which they adopt during the first few 
months will likely go with them through life. The 
first six viontJis of a converts experience geyierally 
tells zcliat he is to be, ^' Answer to me for his being 
right that time, and I will answer for the rest.'* 

2. That he should be in the Sunday school. 

3. That the beginning of decline be watched 
against. 

4. That besetting sins, from former bad habits, 
be particularly guarded against. 



TRAINING THE CONVERTS, 377 

5. That growth is the great law life, animal and 
vegetable ; and that he is to ** grow in grace and the 
knowledge of Jesus Christ/' At conversion the 
great work is but begun \ and it is \h^ growmg oi 
the new life which proves the new birth a real birth, 
and not an abortion ; a birth of life, and not of death. 
And this growth must continue day by day, and 
year by year. ^* It is not a dead past, but a living 
present which must testify for you before God." 

6. That self-denial is to be exercised. ** The sins 
which most easily beset you will again Hft their 
bruised heads ; broken tempers will again clamor for 
mastery ; your weak points will again be assailed by 
the great enemy of souls ; duty-posts will again look 
dangerous and forbidding; ease will beckon you to 
her flowery beds, and to the Lord's calls unbelieving 
timidity will whisper her excusing petitions." 

7. That they have been converted for usefulness^ 
for work, for bringing others to Christ, *' A profes- 
sion of religion is no sinecure. If Christ in the 
abounding riches of his grace has called you into 
his kingdom, it is that you at once enter into his 
service ; and your first inquiry should be. Lord what 
will thou have ine to do ? He wants no idlers 
among his professed followers : that other professors 
are no standard for them." 

8. They are to aim high. They should look to 
the Scriptures for their standard, and to Christ for 
their model. '^ If, having got into the church, you 
take a low stand at first, instead of rising you will 
invariably decline, till your brethren will be con- 



378 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



strained to stand in doubt of you, and the world 
will ask, What do ye more than others ? But if you- 
set your mark high, remembering that '^ ye are not 
your own,'* but " bought with a price,*' even the 
precious blood of Christ, you will, by the aid of the 
Holy Spirit, witness a good profession, and bring 
forth much fruit to God's glory." 

9. That principle 7tot feeling, or emotion, is to 
govern them, Many will be zealous in religion 
when they feel like it, when their emotions are 
warm and lively ; but they will not act out religion 
consistently, and carry it into all the concerns of hfe. 
They are religious only as they are impelled by a 
gush of feeling. This is not true religion. Let the 
converts be taught that true piety does not con- 
sist, chiefly, in high-wrought frames of feeling. But 
that it consists rather, in a fixed choice and purpose 
of heart to serve God ; in a settled principle of obedi- 
ence to his will. 

10. That they have renounced all ownership of 
themselves or their possessions. They should not 
be left to think that anything is their own, their 
time, property, influence, faculties, bodies or souls, 
^' When you submitted to God, you made a free sur- 
render of all to him, to be ruled and disposed of at 
his pleasure. You have no right to spend one hour 
as if your time was your own ; no right to go any- 
where, or do anything, for yourselves, but should 
hold all at the disposal of God, and employ all for 
his glory. If you do not, you rob God, and cannot 
be expected to prosper in the divine life." 



TRAINING THE CONVERTS, ^yg 

11. That they should keep their gonsciences just 
as tender as they are now. In a few months, if 
properly taught and attended to, young converts 
may have a conscience so delicately poised that the 
weight of a feather will turn them. Only bring a 
*' Thus saith the Lord,'' and they will be always 
ready to do that, be it what it may. 

12. That they should be *^ temperate in all 
things:" — It were better to give up, (if used) 
tobacco ; certainly all strong drinks. Dr.' Net- 
tleton said : " I have made particular inquiry, and 
find that the declension of some has commenced 
with an undue conformity to the world. But the 
sm of intejfiperance has caused more trouble, and 
done more dishonor to the cause of Christ than any 
other that can be named." By all means induce con- 
verts to ** sign the pledge,'' if they have not already 
done it. If pastors begin right just here, wrong hab- 
its can be rooted out thoroughly. If they neglect it 
now, they may lament it when it is too late. 

1 3. That they should carry their religion into 
their business. *^ They should be just as holy, just as 
watchful, aim just as singly at the glory of God, and 
be just as sincere and solemn in all their daily em- 
ployments, as in the act of coming to the throne of 
grace. This, God demands." 

14. That they be regular in all the church ser- 
vices ; on Sabbath, and the weekly meetings. 

15. That they should allow no day to pass with- 
out secret prayer. ^^ In the closet the battle is lost 
or won." 



38o 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



l6. That they take heed as to worldly compan- 
ionship, and worldly amusements — ^' Can one take 
coals of fire in his bosom and not be burned ? *' 

i7. That they be not conformed to the world. 

1 8. That they neglect not to search the 
Scriptures. '* Christ is now putting you to school, 
not under the law, but under the Gospel, that you 
may be trained up for his service. And the Bible is 
your text-book. Read it. Study it. It will take 
but a moment or two to commit a text to memory 
every morning, which may be kept in mind through 
the day. Do this, and you will have treasured up 
three hundred and sixty- five at the end of the year. 
How many in ten years? No less than three thou- 
sand six hundred and fifty ! " 

We are happy in being able to append here the 
views of two ministers of the gospel, of ripe expe- 
rience and sound judgment, in a matter of such 
moment as the training of converts. The first of 
the two has been in the ministry sixteen years, — a 
quarter part of which has been passed in revivals: 
and the topic of his letter is one in which he has 
very great interest. The writer of the second letter 
is widely known for his ability, and the wisdom of his 
opinions. 

From Rev, E. S, Atwoocl^ Salem, Mass. 
My Dear Brother: 

I have a firm belief in the necessity and helpful- 
ness of the systemaiic religious culture of the con 



TRAINING THE CONVERTS. 



381 



verts, and if I have had any success in revivals it is 
mainly owing to the time and effort spent in this 
direction. 

A competent gardener, when his choice seeds 
have germinated, and the shoots are fairly above 
ground, feels that the real difficulties of his work 
have only just commenced. Possibly the very life 
of the plants, certainly the symmetry of their growth 
and blossoming, depends upon the care and culture 
which they now receive. Nature has done her part 
well, as she always does ; the question of further 
success is conditioned upon the fidelity and skill 
with which man discharges his share of the responsi- 
bility which now accrues. 

Practically, this element essential to success in 
revival work, is largely overlooked. It is a common 
odium, cast upon revival measures, that their results 
are largely evanescent ; that the ultimate and perma- 
nent receipts are lamentably meagre when compared 
with the effort expended, and the promise which the 
work gave at certain stages of its progress. As the 
easiest way out of the difficulty, the responsibility 
for this unsatisfactory state of things is laid upon 
revival preachers and their *' injudicious " methods. A 
great deal of cheap sarcasm is wasted upon the folly 
of religious spasms. The evangelist, or the earnest 
pastor, is characterized as a mountebank, who suc- 
ceeds only in stirring up a little, whirl of .excitement, 
that very soon subsides into more complete stagna- 
tion than before : and the world, and too often the 



382 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

church, furnishes itself with a new argument against 
revival measures. 

Now this commonly accepted explanation of the 
comparative fruitlessness of revivals, is utterly base- 
less and bad. Let the responsibility rest where it 
belongs. The mischief does not have its root in the 
unusual fervency with which truth is pressed by the 
preacher — nor in the unusual methods which are 
employed to drive men to religious decisions. If the 
truth lay here, the criticism would hold with vastly 
more force against the day of Pentecost and the day 
of Judgment, as having a tendency to blunt the reli- 
gious sensibilities of men and stale the power of the 
great truths of God. No exception can rightly be 
taken to fiery preaching, or to the most intense 
pressure brought to bear upon the soul to force it to 
decision. Excitement produced in this way is 
neither dehrium nor intoxication. If it comes to 
nothing, or worse than nothing, the fault Hes with 
those who neglect the work, or do not know how to 
push it to its legitimate issue. The processes of re- 
ligious life, in many important particulars, are so 
identical with the processes of natural growth, that 
what is imperative in one case is equally imperative 
in the other. What would be folly in the manage- 
ment of a garden, is a similar and a greater folly in 
the training of a soul. 

Convert-culture ought to be recognized as a 
distinct and indispensable department of revival 
work. Every minister who has had much experience 
in revivals, notices that after a season of religious 



TRAINING THE CONVERTS, 383 

interest, he generally finds himself with three distinct 
classes of hopeful cases on his hands. There is, first, 
a small number who have been quietly led of the 
Spirit to an intelligent comprehension of their 
spiritual wants, and an intelligent acceptance of 
Christ as their Saviour. Their emotional nature has 
not been greatly stirred. They have not been down 
into Gethsemane, nor up upon the heights of Tabor. 
They have simply been made to see their need of 
redemption, and simply accepted the offered Re- 
deemer. They have been found of the ** still small 
Voice,'' and have bowed their heads to his utter- 
ances. Then comes a larger class on whom the 
earthquake, and wind and fire, have done their work. 
Their moral nature has been convulsed to its lowest 
depths. They have been rent and torn with the 
consciousness of sin. They have looked into the 
open doors of hell. Their faces have grown white 
with fear. And when relief came, the ecstasy has 
been as extravagant as the depression. Their ideal 
of religious life, is a life lifted on the flood-tide of 
blissful emotion. They are contented only so long 
as the New Jerusalem is in full view. They are in 
the strict sense of the term emotional Christians. 
And then there is a third class in whom the law-work 
has been thoroughly done, but in whom the gospel- 
work has been feebly done. They see their sins 
much more clearly than they see their Saviour. 
Sinai is an overhanging reality — Calvary a dim out- 
line on the far horizon. Faith is timid, hope weak, 
assurance a thing that comes and goes with shift of 



384 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

circumstances and varying moods of thought. Now 
It is evident, that between these several classes of 
converts there is a wide margin of difference, and 
equally evident that if left to themselves, they will 
drift wider and wider apart. The real problem which 
the church has to solve is — how best to assimilate all 
these varieties of spiritual life, so that the defects 
of each shall be remedied, and what is vital in each 
shall accrue to the benefit of all the rest. 

It must be admiitted that this involves no small 
amount of work. It requires time and thought, and 
prayer and effort. But it is work that cart be done, 
and that ought to be done. The intellectual Chris- 
tian may and ought to be lifted up to a level where 
he will feel more of the inspiration of the great 
hopes of the gospel, and have the experience of the 
heart added to the conviction of the will. The 
emotional Christian may and ought to be led to the 
apprehension that principle is a more important factor 
in religious life than mere feeling ; and without dimin- 
ishing his ardor, be shown how to put more sub- 
stance into his piety. And the timid and doubting 
ones may and ought to be braced with strength — 
taught a larger trust, and be shown the way to 
serener experiences. The effort necessary in order 
to reach these several results is arduous, but it is 
rewarding. No Christian work pays better. If 
rightly managed, no other is so sure of success. 

The methods of this work will vary somewhat 
with localities and circumstances. There is no rigid 
rule of procedure that will fit every case. Each 



TRAINING THE CONVERTS. 



385 



pastor must decide for himself what plan of opera- 
tions will accomplish the most in his particular com- 
munity. And yet, as in processes of general educa- 
tion certain data have been determined by experi- 
ment, and the proper order of instruction for produ- 
cing the most satisfactory results defined, so in this 
training of converts. While the utmost flexibility of 
method is allowable, observation has shown that 
there is a sort of natural order in the steps to be 
successively taken in endeavoring to build up a 
symmetrical Christian character. Without attempt- 
ing to sweep exhaustively over so wide a field, it 
may not be amiss to indicate the general outlines of 
a plan of procedure that has been found to work suc- 
cessfully. 

The training of converts naturally begins with 
an exa7nination of the real evidences of conversion. 
The foundation must be fixed before we commence 
to build the house. Experience shows, that the 
views of young converts on this point are as vague 
as they are varied. Some put the standard too high, 
others too low. One man is in the heaven of assu- 
rance because of a certain glow of feeling which he 
experiences ; another is desponding because his 
emotions do not match with those of some he has 
read or heard of. The only way of reconciling these 
diversities, is to press the scripture test upon each 
man's notice. Judicious training will have it for its 
endeavor to set aside everything else offered in 
evidence, and line out barely and sharply repent- 
ance and faith as the only conditions and proofs of 
17 



386 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

conversion. Such a test strongly pressed will be found 
a sword of double edge that cuts both ways. It 
will lead the over-confident to a more serious self- 
examination, while it will give the doubting a ground 
of assurance. Time cannot be better spent with 
young converts, than in helping them to intelligent 
views on this point. Half the weaknesses of Chris- 
tian life root back into false ideas of what constitutes 
a child of God. Let that question be settled at 
the beginning, and once for all. If the matter is 
properly managed it may be. It certainly ought to 
be. It is indispensable to the success of the voyage 
that we should know at the start that the vessel is 
seaworthy. No pastor should grudge the time, and 
patience, and tenderness that may be found neces- 
sary for perfecting this work. If it is done thor- 
oughly at the outset, it is done for all time, and men 
and women who are able to give to themselves and 
others ** a reason for the hope that is in them/' are 
in a condition to grow strongly and continuously. 

Next in order comes a proper understanding 
of the helps to Christian growth. In regard to this mat- 
ter there is commonly great ignorance. Certain 
traditional views of the efficacy of prayer, and the 
usefulness of Bible study, held previous to conversion, 
are very apt to pass over into superstitions after 
conversion. A searching inquiry into the real form 
in which these matters lie in the minds of young con- 
verts, will usually disclose the fact that their con- 
ceptions are crude and faulty. Men very largely 
need to be schooled into the right use of these instru- 



TRAINING THE CONVERTS, 387 

merits of spiritual growth. How to read the Bible to 
the best advantage, how to pray, how to secure 
answers to prayer, are questions covering points in 
which a great deal of instruction is wanted. And 
almost every case will be found to be special in some 
particulars, requiring special treatment. It is never 
safe to take anything for granted in this department. 
Those men who are counted wisest are often the 
most ignorant. Beginners in the Christian life need 
the assistance of maturer Christian experience to 
help them out of the practical difficulties with which 
they find themselves face to face. Haphazard prayer 
and scripture study have little efficacy. There is an 
art of using these means which intuition seldom if 
ever masters. It is to be taught by experts, and 
careful explanation and instruction on this point, 
suiting the teaching to individual exigencies, will be 
abundantly rewarded. 

Then let there follow a consideration of the scope 
of the Christian doctrines, and their relations to practi- 
cal life. Here again experience shows that a very 
common misapprehension exists. There is an almost 
universal tendency in the minds of young converts to 
dwell too exclusively on what they have/r//. A sys- 
tem of truth is something to which they are called 
to intellectually assent, but which is not recognized 
as having vital relations to spiritual growth. The 
creed is held to be something ecclesiastical rather 
than Christian. It is of the first importance that 
this false impression should be corrected. The 
great doctrines of the faith should be simply stated, 



388 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

and their bearing upon religious life unfolded. The 
creed should be emphasized as doing, in its way, just 
what prayer does in its way. And especially in this 
day when the drift of popular thought is so strongly 
towards a contempt of doctrine, and piety is so feebly 
differentiated from some things that pass for it, is it 
imperative that we insist upon the vital influence 
of Christian believing upon christian living. Converts 
should be trained into the conviction that the great 
truths of Scripture are the ** trees of the Lord that 
are full of sap,'* and their ^* leaves for the healing of 
the nations." Intelligent piety is the great want of 
the times, and the best way to secure it, is to show 
men in the beginning that belief and life are insep- 
arably linked together. 

And finally, and in fact all along in this process of 
training, an effort should be made to create the sense of 
personal responsibility for Christiaii work. Piety needs 
air and exercise. Give every convert from the start 
something to do, suiting the work to the talents and 
opportunities of the individual. Insist upon it that no 
drones can live in the Christian hive ; that anything 
that is not working piety is worthless piety. The im- 
portance of developing this sense of responsibility at 
the outset cannot be too strongly stated. The be- 
ginning of the Christian life is the hopeful time. The 
soul always carries its birth-marks. Give piety some- 
thing to do in. the cradle, and you secure at least the 
probability of permanent religious activity. Our 
churches are suffering from a dearth of Christian work- 
ers. New responsibilities are continually rolhng up, 



TRAINING THE CONVERTS. 



389 



and there is nobody to meet them. The fault lies in 
the early training of the membership. They are al- 
lowed a honeymoon of inaction, which is Hable to be 
indefinitely prolonged. The inertia of first experiences 
is hard to overcome, and the loss is individual as well 
as general. It reports itself in the type of piety as 
well as in the aggregate of work. An active Christi- 
anity is the ideal of the gospel. The religion that 
does not subsidize all the energies of the soul, can 
never be satisfactory to its possessor. It should be 
specially impressed upon the new-born child of God, 
that his future happiness as well as usefulness is con- 
ditioned upon his fidelity as a Christian zvorker. 

And how are all the ends contemplated in this 
process of training best reached ? That, so far as 
tuethods are concerned, must be left to the judgment 
of the individual pastor. But this much may be 
said, whatever the methods selected, they must be 
discriminating, specific, personal in their character. 
Preaching will do something, the freer form of 
lecture-room address will do more, but neither are 
adequate to the exigencies of the case. As a general 
rule, no expedient has proved more efficient than 
the plan of convert classes, meeting week by week, 
and following the Socratic method of question and 
answer. Personal views are thus elicited, and per- 
sonal misapprehensions corrected, while each secures 
the benefit of the experience of all the rest. Until 
experience shows some better method to be practi- 
cable, this must stand as the most serviceable, the 



390 HA NDBOOK OF R'E VIVALS, 

fullest of promise, and ordinarily the richest in re- 
sults of any that has yet been tried. 

And now, if any overworked pastor objects that 
this training process lays too heavy a tax upon his 
time and energies, it may be answered, that inspira- 
tion sufficient to attempt and carry it out to success 
may be gathered from the consideration of the cer- 
tain results of work like this. It is written in the 
annals of art, that sculptors have spent months in 
wandering from quarry to quarry in search of a block 
fleckless and crystalline enough to worthily embody 
their ideal ; and then have given months and years 
to the slow shaping of the crudeness of the stone 
into the grace of outline and loveliness of feature, 
that reproduced in the imperishable whiteness of 
the marble the dream of beauty which filled their 
thought. And surely this work of shaping immortal 
souls into the symmetry of Christ-likeness has its 
greater inspirations. The hope of at last present- 
ing those whom we have in charge ^'perfect and 
complete, without spot or wrinkle, before the face 
of the Father," is enough to encourage us to weari- 
ness and toil however prolonged. And if, in the per- 
plexity of difficulties, and in the infirmity of human 
nature, we often find ourselves asking "• who is suffi- 
cient for these things?'' close upon the question of 
self-distnust, follows the sweet assertion of Christian 
assurance, '^ I can do all things through Christ which 
strengtheneth me.'' 

Trusting that the " Handbook " may be a great 



TRAINING THE CONVERTS. 



391 



success, and help the church of God to a better 
understanding of the' philosophy of revivals, I am 
Very truly yours, 

E. S. Atwood. 



From Rev, Dr. Cuttings Brooklyn^ N, V, 

My Dear Dr. Fish : — I have strong convictions 
as to the instruction to be given to converts prepara- 
tory to their coming into the communion of the 
church ; and I am not unwilling to urge these con- 
victions, whether by my example or in any other 
way, upon all who are charged with the care of 
souls. 

I was ordained at West Boylston, Mass., in March, 
1836. During my brief pastorate there, (for I went to 
Southbridge at the end of the summer of 1837,) I 
had the pleasure of baptizing a considerable number, 
a large part of whom were young. It seemed to me 
that before I took the responsibility of bringing 
them into the church, I should know for myself that 
they were instructed concerning the nature, the ob- 
jects and the ends of Christian profession. I did 
not expect them to be theologians, I did not sup- 
pose them to be Christians ripened by experience, I 
did not imagine that all which is embodied in the 
articles of faith of evangelical churches could be 
comprehended by them. I did suppose, however, 
that a beginning could be made in indoctrination, 
that the breadth and force of Christian experience 
could be better understood by contemplating it, and 



OQ2 HAXDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 

that it was not becoming to ask the assent of young 
converts to articles of which they knew nothing. 

I began, therefore, with the Articles, and 
grouped all which I had to say to them around in- 
struction on these. I met them, and taught them 
on the basis of these Articles, that they might know, 
as well as possible, what they were professing, how 
much was implied, and the duties to which they 
were binding themselves by the most solemn of obli- 
gations. Imperfectly as the service was performed, 
I am certain that I was not mistaken in attempting 
it, and if I am pastor again, I should not content 
myself with even this. I would begin earlier. I 
would have in part the instruction of the young 
under my personal care from the beginning, meet- 
ing the children of my congregation at least once a 
month, in some simple service, rendered as attract- 
ive as possible consistently with its ends, in which I 
would make myself certain that the foundations of 
Christian knowledge were properly laid in their 
youthful minds. 

I have great respect for catechetical instruction, 
and do not doubt that, accompanied with wise illus- 
trative teaching, it may be made most captivating to 
the young, and as permanent as the mind itself in its 
happy influences. The Sunday school, excellent 
and important as it is, should never replace parental 
instruction on the one hand, nor pastoral instruction 
on the other. 

In the Cathedral of Notre Dame at Paris, I saw a 
large number of young girls who were engaged in a 



TRAINING THE CONVERTS, 



393 



responsive service. I did not approach very near 
them, b.ut I judged them to be receiving instruction 
preparatory to Confirmation. In such matters, 
Rome will never fail. Why should we fail who 
teach tjiat which we hold to be so much nearer the 
truth as it is in Jesus? 

Yours very truly, 

S. S. Cutting. 

We commend the above thoughts, and this 
whole subject of convert-ciilttC7'e, to the most earnest 
heed of all winners of souls. Leave not the work 
half done ! Truly, it is a great thing to save men, 
even though it be only ^' as by fire." But is it not 
also a great thing to have them ** rooted and 
grounded in the truth,'* instead of being '^ children, 
tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind 
of doctrine?" Surely it is of inconceivable import- 
ance that converts come unto ^^perfect men, unto 
the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ : 
• — from whom the whole body, fitly joined together 
and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, 
according to the effectual working in the measure of 
every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the 
edifying of itself in love." 

^'O Lord, Revive Thy Work!" 

17* 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

REVIVALS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD. 

TT OW this world is soonest to be given to Christ, 
is a question that should concern every one of 
his followers. Our object is to show that it will not be 
done apart from extensive and frequent revivals of 
religion. 

The argument from the past is in place. Cole- 
ridge has likened experience to the stern-light of a 
ship, which illumines the track it has passed over. 
And Sir Philip Sydney affirmed that all is lip-wis- 
dom which wants experience. The lessons of the 
thousands of gone-by years are here before us for 
instruction. 

What we are to-day is attributable to revivals. 
This is a strong assertion ; and yet the pages of this 
book abundantly confirm it. Let any one read but 
the two chapters, ^* Historical View of Revivals," 
and ^^ What we owe to Revivals,'* and our language 
will not be deemed extravagant. Nor is there the 
least ground for believing that God will essentially 
change the methods of his operations in the time to 
come. As he has hitherto carried forward his work 
by revivals, we may expect that he will continue to 
do the same, only on a much grander scale. 



REVIVALS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD. 



395 



The present slow progress of religion comes in as 
an argument. There appeared some years ago in a 
leading religious paper, the following : " From the 
statistical report of the American Congregational 
Orthodox churches for 1862, it is seen that out of 
the fourteen hundred and eighteen churches of New 
England, seven hundred and thirty-eight, or more 
than one half, had not a single conversion, or addi- 
tion by profession, during the year. One hundred 
and eighty-two other churches had but one conver- 
sion each. And only sixty-six churches had as 
many as ten each. Excepting the churches with 
which evangelists had labored, there was an average 
of less than two conversions to a minister for the 
year; and for all the United States and Canada, 
probably not over two. The results for the last four 
years do not vary greatly from these numbers. 
Many of these churches have not been blessed with 
a revival for periods of fifteen, twenty, and even 
thirty years together; and some of them not with a 
single conversion. It further appears that the whole 
number of converts gathered at home and abroad, 
under the entire auspices of the American Congre- 
gational Orthodox churches, over the number of 
deaths and excommunications, was but two thousand 
and sixteen ; which, divided among the three thou- 
sand and fifty-six churches of the denomination, 
gives an average gain of less than three-fourths of 
one to a church for the year. Or, otherwise stated, 
two thousand and sixteen churches had a net gain 



396 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

of one soul each for the year, and one thousand and 
forty churches had not one addition.'* 

The article, no doubt, was based upon facts and 
statistics taken from the ** Congregational Quarterly," 
and published in a tract form in 1867. We give that 
part of the statement bearing on the point before us. 

"There are about one thousand four hundred and 
twenty Orthodox Congregational churches in New 
England. The number of conversions, or additions 
by profession over losses by death and excommuni- 
cation, reported by them for the year, — 

i860 was 385, or about one-fourth of one to each church. 

1861 was 117, or about one-twelfth of one to each church. 

1862 a loss of 284 over all additions. 

1863 a gain of 318, or less than one-fourth of one to each church, 

1864 a gain of 1,412, or nearly one to each church, 

1865 a gain of 2,416, or nearly two to each church. 

1866 about 1,257, or nearly one to each church. 

*^ Nearly one-half of these churches reported, in 
each of these seven years, not a single conversion^ 
or addition by profession. 

*^ About two hundred other churches reported, in 
each of these seven years, only one addition each. 
A majority of the remaining churches reported little 
over two additions each. Nearly all the larger gains 
were made by those few churches that have made 
"extra efforts," for the conversion of men. 

" Such is New England's record for the last seven 
years, and probably for the last thirty years it has 
been little or no better. 

*' The average number of the Orthodox Congre- 



REVIVALS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD, 397 

gational Churches of the United States and Canada 
for these seven years was about two thousand eight 
hundred. Their gain over losses for the year, — 

i860 was less than one-half of one to each church. 

1861 was less than two-thirds of one to each church. 

1862 was less than one and one-twenty-seventh to each church. 

1863 was less than one and one-half to each church. 

1864 was less than one and one-third to each church. 

1865 was about two and one-tenth to each church, 

1866 about the same as last year. 

** So far as can be gathered from their statistical 
reports, the churches of the other denotnmationSj 
have not been more successful in gathering converts 
from the world during this period than the Congre- 
gational Churches have been.'' 

'' As the churches average less than one hundred 
members, and make a net gain of less than one mem- 
ber a year, at this rate of increase it will take one 
hundred years for them to double the present mem- 
bership. While the population of the country will 
probably doubIe/i?^/r times in this period, and become 
one hundred and fifty millions, the churches will be 
only about eight millions. Without more general 
and powerful revivals than ever have been, how soon 
the churches will be overwhelmed and lost in the 
world!" 

In view of such considerations, the remarks of an 
eminent Christian writer*^ are worthy of the deepest 
thought. ^* At our present rate of march, wc can 

* Dr. Noah Porter. See also facts of the same nature under 
" Revival Means and Methods.'' 



398 



HA YDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



scarcely keep in sight of the armyof aliens whom we 
would subdue to Christ. I see the cause of human 
salvation to be altogether hopeless without the spe- 
cial interposition of the Holy Spirit. Should this in- 
terposition be granted only to one individual in ten 
(which has been, perhaps, about the average of sav- 
ing conversions in our evangelical congregations), 
nine tenths of the population, even in New England 
would remain '^aliens from the commonwealth of 
Israel." Darker still is the prospect in those sec- 
tions of our country where scarcely one in fifty exhib- 
its any evidence, or makes* any profession, of piety. 
The hope of the church, then, is in revivals of reli- 
gion — continued^ powerful, general revivals!' 

The moral condition of society at large strength- 
ens this view. It is easy to boast of a great coun- 
try ; of a good government ; of a common language ; 
of Christian churches and religious liberty; of rapid 
intercommunication ; of unbounded wealth ; of nu- 
merical growth, and the like. But no one pretends 
that all this can insure a people's welfare. With 
all this society may be corrupt from the crown of the 
head to the sole of the foot. And few intelligent 
Christians will claim that the mass of the population, 
w^ith all we are doing, is being thoroughly leavened 
with saving truth. It were pleasant to think so ; but 
such is not the case, even in the most favored com- 
munities. 

The old processes of Christian education are a 
laughing-stock to the present generation. Catechis- 
ing, exact definitions of doctrines, creed-statements, 



REVIVALS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD. 



399 



— these are scouted as things fit only for a '^ Puritani- 
cal " age. As some one has it, that charity which 
believeth all things but God's truths has opened the 
doors to a fatal religious literature, in which, by a 
sort of universal solvent, all the doctrinal bones of 
theology are reduced to a gelatinous mass of ambig- 
uous sentiment. And the consequence is, that the 
people are losing all sense of the diversities of creeds, 
become looser and more ignorant as falsehood grows 
familiar, and are led off to skepticism and universalism 
on one side, and to popery on the other ; or not less 
degrading and ruinous, to Socinus, Swedenborg, fami- 
liar spirits, and the Mormons. 

Even Christian teachers, and those claiming to 
be orthodox, from their pulpits and editorial chairs, 
join in the cry against ** the stringency of formulated 
creeds,** and are so much more liberal than loyal as 
to forget that truth makes no compromises. Per- 
ceiving diversities of doctrines and opinions, they 
would help the people out of their difficulties in 
knowing what to hold, by telling them that all beliefs 
are equally valid — that some doctrines are not essen- 
tial, even admitting that they are truths ! — and that 
** it does not matter what the creed is if the practice 
be right ! " Dr. Guthrie once said '^ the more that 
* works* are preached up instead of * faith/ the worse 
are the Svorks* that men do." Might it not be 
claimed with equal force, that the more men clamor 
for *^'life** in place of ^Moctrinc,** the more corrupt 
are the lives of many who subsist on such preaching? 

Farther : arc the numerous evangelical churches 



400 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

positively putting forth their power upon the com- 
munities ? Forms and ceremonies, yea, and sound 
doctrines, may exist, where the church is spiritually 
prostrate. Indeed it often occurs that the ''ability'' 
of churches lead to extravagance and indolence ; ^so 
that a body boasting that she '' is rich, and increased 
with goods, and has need of nothing,*' is really 
'^ wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, 
and naked." And what do the above facts and 
figures show as to the actual power of the churches 
upon the communities ! 

Nothing so impresses the thoughtful mind as the 
possibilities of influence on the part of the churches. 
But it is like the power of steam before it was evoked 
and apphed to man's service ; like that of .electricity 
before science chmbed the height of the skies, and 
seized the spirit of thunder, and chained it to the 
chariot of human progress. It is latent power. 

Capital that is unused is called dead capital ; 
and a man might have a shop or storehouse full of it 
and still not get ahead. O, the amount of dead capi- 
tal in the churches ! O, what numbers of them are 
dying of inertia, — dying of the dry-rot of formaHsm ! 
dying of decency and respectability! 

Now it is specifically the effect of revivals to in- 
crease church-power. This is not a thing of organ- 
ism. Undoubtedly Christianity would be advantaged 
by consolidating her resources. But will a grand, im- 
posing organization furnish the power that converts 
bad men into good ones? Will it enable them, when 
converted, to lead holy and spotless lives ? Will 



REVIVALS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD. 



401 



"a strong Church/' in popular acceptation, give great- 
er effect to sermons, more unction to exhortations, 
more success to the instruction of the young, and 
richer answers to prayer ? Will it make Christians 
more humble, morecontented, more charitable? Will 
it make the covetous liberal, and bring the Lord's por- 
tion into his treasury ? This is not the solution of 
the problem of church-power ! It is the '''power of 
the Highest '' that we need ! 

Consider what revivals would do for the rural 
districts. In 1802 Rev. Jesse Edson wrote from 
Halifax, Vermont, thus : '' The Holy Spirit seemed 
to come down like a rushing, mighty wind, to melt 
the souls of God's children, to cause sinners to 
tremble, stubborn wills to bow, and hard hearts to 
relent. Numbers flocked to Christ as a cloud, and 
as doves to their windows. Fifteen were received 
the next communion, twenty-one the communion 
following; about sixty, in the whole.'* In later 
years, and especially under the labors of Rev. Sam- 
uel Fish, frequent and blessed revivals were expe- 
rienced in that town, among the fruits of which were 
not less than twelve or fifteen missionaries and minis- 
ters of the gospel, besides great numbers of efficient 
Christian workers ; most of whom, however, have 
either deceased, or removed to places of greater 
social or business advantages. 

Years ago the church of Mr. Edson (Congrega- 
tional) died out. That of Mr. Fish (Baptist) barely 
survives (in two locaHties) to keep the gospel banner 
flying on those hills. The extinct church lived for 



402 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



fifty years by virtue of the revival referred to ; and 
on account of the later awakenings, the surviving so- 
ciety has not expired. Now, one powerful revival 
in that town would put the feeble interest on its feet 
for another whole generation, and save the commu- 
nity from being given over to religious indifferentism 
and social barbarism. We see no hope for the cause, 
whatever, except in such a special awakening. And 
this is but a picture of thousands of rural districts, 
especially in the inland parts of New England, where 
the population is depreciating. Will any one tell 
us what is to save such places from godlessness ex- 
cept gracious revivals? 

Consider, too, what revivals would do for the 
cities. In the absence of strong remedial agencies, 
great cities are great sores. Witli such influences 
they are centres of gracious influence. Our Lord, 
and after him the apostles, bestowed eflbrt chiefly 
upon cities, *' beginning at Jerusalem," the capital of 
the nation. They acted on the principle on which 
Alexander and Cssar, and all the great conquerors 
of all times act, that of seizing upon the strong 
places of power, and holding them in subjection, with 
the assurance that all other places will then become 
an easy conquest. For in cities are accumulated 
wealth, and talent, and energy and enterprise ; and 
if this be consecrated it is a mighty gain. Besides, 
men are in masses there, and therefore ought to be 
more readily reached and moved ; and carrying these, 
the surrounding villages and all parts of the country 
are reached. Saving the cities, therefore, is a matter 
of the hic^hest moment. 



fc> 



REVIVALS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD. 403 

Now there is no way of doing it but by powerful 
revivals. Look at things as they exist. City churches 
are not really reaching the dense masses of popula- 
tion. Strong in their wealth and social position, 
they are too much like polished shafts whirling on 
their bearings, but without cogs interlocking them 
into anything. They are not linked with society, 
and moving it with a magnificent influence. Even 
with all their appliances of Sunday schools, city 
missions, tract operations, ragged schools and the 
like, the churches only touch the rim of the surround- 
ing wickedness. Not one quarter part of the popu- 
lation of the great cities ever hear the gospel ! A 
large proportion of the people are practically heath- 
ens, — as much so as are the dwellers in absolutely 
pagan lands. 

By present processes, then, these masses of 
immortals will never be reached and rescued. 
Multitudes of them have no Bible; or if they had, 
they could not read it, or would immediately pawn 
it. They spurn a tract, or if they do not, it would 
be useless to them. Multitudes of them study con- 
cealment ; practice crimes which cannot be exposed 
to the light of day ; and alike shrink away from 
police officers and friends of religion. Here and 
there some Christian effort picks off one soul from 
the godless mass ; but nothing is making anything 
like an inroad upon it. 

What is wanted is an awakening that would 
shake the dry bones in even the lowest stratum of 
society, rousing them from filth and drunkenness, 



404 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



and raising them into a great army to fight the 
battles of the Lord. What is needed are mighty 
revival impulses, urging them toward inquiry, and 
urging godly men and women to carry the heavenly 
light to those who will not come to it, and to com 
pel the wanderers to come in that the divine guest- 
chamber may be full. And what short of powerful 
revivals can accomplish this ? Is there any conceiv- 
able way except that by which God thus suddenly 
arouses the churches, and moves simultaneously the 
hearts of great multitudes ? 

A succession of such revivals as have occasionally 
been witnessed, sweeping all through the great cit- 
ies of Christendom, would secure every condition of 
the moral elevation of these myriads of inhabitants. 
And without them the case appears hopeless in- 
deed. 

Again : the relation of the ministry to revivals is 
to be taken into account. As we have seen in a 
previous chapter,"^ the large part of good ministers 
of Jesus Christ have hitherto come from revivals; 
and in the mere point of numerical supply, whence 
but from this source can they be expected in the 
future ? Without revivals, the hosts of young men 
necessary for home and foreign work, glowing with 
love to Christ, and ready to sacrifice for his cause, 
cannot be expected to come forward, but will con- 
tinue to be drawn into business and the other pro- 
fessions. 

Besides: those converted in revivals may be 

* " What We Owe to Revivals." 



REVIVALS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD, 



405 



expected to be the most efficient winners of souls. 
They possess the same revival spirit, and adopt the 
same style of preaching, and substantially the same 
means, as they had felt and witnessed to be mighty 
through God to the pulling down of strongholds. 

Moreover, actual contact with revival work won- 
derfully intensifies a preacher's power. In a re- 
vival a pastor is thrown upon his own resour- 
ces. His energies and ingenuity are taxed to 
the utmost. And thus new ideas are created, and 
new methods of illustrating and applying divine truth 
are acquired. His soul is aflame ; and his words go 
blazing from his lips, and falling like fire upon the 
consciences of men, and lookers on are amazed at his 
added pathos, energy and power. For the minis- 
try s sake, then we must have revivals. 

Again : the great be7zevolent movements of the 
age cannot progress without revivals. Every out- 
pouring of the Spirit raises up new friends to the 
cause of missions, increases the amount of funds de- 
voted to that cause, and wafts to heaven more nu- 
merous and fervent desires that the kingdom of God 
may come. Let but revivals cease, and what would 
become of the great enterprises for converting man- 
kind- to God? What would become of our benevo- 
lent associations, of various kinds at home ? And 
how could our foreign work go forward ? A general 
and lasting declension of religion would diy up all 
the sources of supply, both of men and money, upon 
which such operations depend. 

We forget that each generation of the modern 



4o6 HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 

world consists of 30,000,000 of children ; so that to 
christianize this added population alone there must 
be one million conversions per year ! In this view 
of the case, what a prodigious work is before us ! 
And how can it be accomplished without remark- 
able and wonderful and sudden effusions of the Spir- 
it of God ? 

Revivals, then, are emphatically the hope of the 
world. From every estimate we can form on this 
subject, it would seem clear beyond a doubt that 
we must have them, and of a still more powerful 
character than we have hitherto had, or else the 
work of this world's conversion to God can never be 
consummated. It is impossible to see how 800,000 
000 souls, or any considerable part of this number, 
can be washed from their sins, within the most dis- 
tant time to which the millennium can be deferred, 
by the single drops of converting grace falHng as 
now. Mighty revivals must become yet more and 
more frequent, until there shall cease to be intervals 
between them, and they shall run into each other, 
and flow together in one long and still spreading river 
of salvation. 

And why not have such revivals? We do not 
see why they are not to be looked for; — those of far 
greater power and wider extent than have hitherto 
been experienced. Where is the improbabihty of sup- 
posing that whole nations, the largest associated 
bodies of men on the globe, are to feel the power of 
the Spirit in one general and simultaneous effusion, 
and to evince that they feel it by a general and sim- 



REVIVALS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD. 407 

ultaneous turning to God, — even as the whole army 
of dry bones in the prophet's vision were re-animated 
and stood upon their feet at once, when the Spirit 
from the four winds came upon them ? 

Not less apposite than animating, just in this 
connection, are some words of the late Dr. J. W. 
Alexander, of N. Y. '^ Imagine a shower of grace in 
this single city ; every house filled with worshippers, 
every place of business made solemn or joyful by 
the presence of religious emotion. Think of seasons 
during which reHgion should be the great matter of 
interest with every young person. Think of the effect 
on ministers, on professing Christians, on sinners. 
Imagine, if you can, a universal work over the whole 
country and world ! My brethren, what visions arise 
before the eye of faith in the expectation of such a 
blessing ! Oh that I could impress, and be pos- 
sessed myself with a due sense of the loveliness, the 
glory, the indispensableness of such a gift ! If I 
judge aright, all other pursuits are nothing to the 
pursuit of this ! Here is the great work of philan- 
thropy, the only thing worth living for ! ** 

"O Lord, Revive Thy Work!'' 



CHAPTER XIX. 

ARE YOU REVIVED? 

T TNDER the pressure of deep feelings we pen 
these last lines. It arises, particularly, from 
the attempt to say a few things to the official teach- 
ers of God's word. Ministers and Revivals! What 
a conjunction of terms! Ministers^ how weighty 
their obligations ! Revivals^ how fraught with the 
mightiest consequences ! 

Is it not lamentable that students for the minis- 
try are not more instructed upon the all-important 
subject of revivals ? In what Theological Seminary 
does this hold even a subordinate place in the course 
of study, or the class-room exercise ? Were it not 
: well, among other provisions, to establish a Revival 
Professorship, or a Chair on Soul-Saving? Says Dr. 
Noah Porter: '^ I deem it all-important that minis- 
ters, and those who are preparing to become min- 
isters, should be revival men ! I mean, men who 
understand the subject of revivals, who enter into it 
with a warm and decided interest, and whose preach- 
ing and influence in all respects shall be adapted to 
promote revivals. To cherish the spirit of revivals, 
then, in our Theological Seminaries^ is the direct 
way to multiply revival ministers.*' 



ARE YOU REVIVED? 



409 



Precisely at this point is to be found a radical 
defect. The evil lies in the process of training. 
In the absorbing attention given to the science of 
theology, that which should be the chief aim in all 
ministerial preparation is comparatively lost sight 
of; and the young preachers do not enter upon their 
pastorates as proselyters of men. They are skilled, 
it may be, in sermon-writing, and in the niceties of 
metaphysical and theological distinctions; but they 
are not skilled in the holy art of winning souls — if, 
indeed, they have any right appreciation of this as 
their work. We earnestly commend the thought to 
the leaders of the Lord's hosts. 

If in any one thing more than in others the proverb, 
*^ Like priest like people," holds true, it is in respect 
to revivals of religion. Rarely, perhaps never, is 
the standard of piety in a church higher than that 
of its ministry, while the fruitage of a lifeless minis- 
try is almost invariably a dead or lukewarm church. 
On the other hand, it is a rare fact to find a dead 
church under a living ministry. Look at all those 
great revivals whose record gilds the page of church 
history with its brightest glory. Were not the 
ministry the first to receiv^e the hallowed quickening 
in every instance? Was not Pentecost preceded by 
a baptism of fire on the apostles? Did not the 
Reformation owe its existence to the spiritual power 
of Luther in Germany, and Zwingle in Switzcrhuid ? 
So in America and in Great Britain, Edwards and 
Tennent, Whitfield and Wesley, were the first to be 



4IO 



HA XD BOOK OF REVIVALS. 



filled with quickening power. And thus it has con- 
tinued to our day. 

How evident, therefore, the fact that it is not the 
getting of men for the ministry that is the question 
now. Nor is it, ' How may we secure learned, able, 
eloquent, polished, educated men?' These may be 
very needful matters ; but they are of the second 
grade. They are not the essentials ; they are not 
indispensable. TJie question now is, * How may we 
secure men full of the Holy Ghost and of faith?' 
' How shall w^e bring for^vard a great army of soul- 
savers?'^ It is high time that a different standard 
and different balances came into use, — the standard 
' — not of literature and eloquence — but of the apos- 
tleSy the balances of the sanctuary. 

What an impressive lesson, too, does this teach 
us who are now the ministers of Christ. If the pul- 
pit first receives, and then conveys, the quickening 
flame, is not an inert church largely due to ourselves ? 
We cannot shun responsibihty. It always goes 
with privilege, with leadership. Responsibility is 
measured by opportunity. God holds every man 
accountable for the use he makes of the power com- 
mitted to his trust ; and if one fail of fulfilling his 
obligations, he must answer both for that failure and 
for all the evil ensuing therefrom. Surely, then, 
the thought of our responsibility is enough to make 
us tremble ! For with us is lodged a measureless 
power of good or evil. 

Just here the question is in place : Do we not 
often attempt to shirk responsibility by casting it 



ARE YOU REVIVED? 



411 



upon God ? Thus one has written — " The language 
we have been accustomed to adopt is this; we must 
use the means, and leave the event to God : We can 
do no more than employ the means ; this is our duty, 
and, having done this, we must entrust the rest to 
him who is the disposer of all things." Now such 
language sounds well, for it seems to be an acknowl- 
edgment of our own nothingness, and to savor of 
submission to God's sovereignty ; but it is often only 
sound. It has not really any substance in it. 
Though there is truth stamped on tJie face of it, 
there is falsehood at the root of it. For it is only an 
attempt to cover our indolence ! It is a way we 
have of bHnking responsibility! We may be alto- 
gether too resigned in seeing no souls converted ! 
Our orthodoxy may be a shield for our inactivity ! 
Instead of acquiescing in the low state of Zion, it 
were better if, like the good Payson, we were in a 
*' constant fever'* over it. 

Are we not rebuked by some of the great exam- 
ples set before us in the preceding pages ? Do we 
know a prayerfulness like that of Luther, who once 
said, '* I have so much business to do to-day that I 
shall not be able to get through it w^ith less than 
three hours' prayer." It is John Angel James who 
said ^' we are weak in the pulpit because weak in 
the closet." Edward Payson thus writes to a brother 
minister : '' Prayer is the first thing, the second 
thing, and the third thing necessary for a minister, 
especially if he have revivals. Pray, then, my dear 
brother, pray, pray, pray.*' . 



412 



HAXDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



And Rev. Wm. Reid, in his admirable " Words to 
Winners of Souls," speaks thus to his brethren : 
'' Why is there so httle anxiety to get time to pray? 
Why is there so little forethought in the laying out 
of time and employments, so as to secure a large 
portion of each day for prayer ? Why is there so 
much speaking, yet so little* prayer? Why is there 
so much running to and fro, yet so little prayer ? Why 
so much bustle and business, yet so little prayer? 
Why so many meetings with our fellow-men, yet so 
few meetings with God ? Why so little being alone, 
so little thirsting of the soul for the calm, sweet 
hours of unbroken solitude, when God and his child 
hold fellowship together, as if they could never part ? 
It is this want that not only injures our own growth 
in grace, but makes us such unprofitable servants of 
Christ." 

Do we know a tireless industry like that of Whit- 
field, who, true to the symbol on his seal, — a winged 
heart and the inscription ^^ Astra Petintiis^' "We 
seek the stars," — preached 18,000 sermons in his 34 
years' ministry, — over ten per week : or like that of 
Wesley, who preached 42,400, — over fifteen per 
week, — in the 53 years of his ministry ? 

Do we know an engrossment in the master s 
hisi7tess like that of Brainard ? — who could say of him- 
self, on more than one occasion, " I cared not where 
or how I lived, or what hardships I went through, so 
I could but gain souls to Christ. While I was asleep, 
I dreamed of these things ; and when I waked, the 
first thing I thought of was this great work." 



ARE YOU REVIVED? 



413 



Do we know a travail of soul for the ungodly 
like that of Paul ? — who could affirm, '* I say the truth 
in Christ, my conscience also bearing me witness in 
the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and 
continual sorrow in my heart ; for I could wish that 
myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, 
my kinsmen according 'to the flesh/* 

Do we know a singleness of purpose like that to 
which the sainted Brown, of Haddington, exhorted 
his sons?-'^ O labor, labor, to win souls to Christ ! '* 
Can we satisfactorily answer the question, ^' Is this 
my aim in every sermon I preach, in every visit I 
pay? Is it under the influence of this feeling 
that I continually live and walk and speak ? ' Is it 
for this I pray and toil and fast and weep ? Is it for 
this I spend and am spent, counting it, next to 
the salvation of my own soul, my chiefest joy to be 
the instrument of saving others? Is it for this that 
I exist? And to accomplish this would I gladly 
die?" 

Do we know a sincerity and engagedness like that 
of Mr. Shepherd ? — who declared on his death-bed 
that the studying every sermon cost him prayers with 
strong crying and tears ; that before he preached any 
sermon he got good from it himself; and that he 
always went up into his pulpit as if he were going to 
give up his account to his God.'* 

Do we know a reverent and earnest study of the 
word like that of Whitfield, who read the whole of 
Henry's Exposition of the Bible on his knees ? 

Of Richard Baxter it was said by one of his con- 



414 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS, 



temporaries, that when he spoke of the soul's weighty 
concerns, ''' his spirit was dreiicJied tliereiny And 
yet he confesses, " I seldom come out of the pulpit 
but my conscience smiteth me that I have been no 
more serious and fervent in such a case. It accuseth 
me, not so much for want of ornaments and elegancy, 
nor for letting fall an unhandsome word ; but it 
asketh me : ^ How couldst thou speak of life and 
death with such a heart? How couldst thou preach 
of heaven and hell in such a careless, sleepy manner? 
Dost thou believe what thou sayest ? Art thou in 
earnest, or in jest? How canst thou tell people that 
sin is such a thing, and that so much misery is upon 
them*and before them, and be no more affected 
with it?'" If //^ could say that, what might our 
confession be ? 

And, now, can we really say that while we admire 
the character of such men as we have referred to, 
and are ready to exclaim, '* Would that I were such a 
minister ; that such a grace might dwell, and rule, 
and shine in me; and make me thus faithful, and 
bring me to such blessedness ;" — while we are ready 
to say this, — are we willing to use t]ie means which 
they used for obtaining such holiness? Edwards 
says, ^^ Often I have had very affecting views of my 
own sinfulness and vileness ; very frequently to such 
a degree as to hold me in a kind of loud weeping, 
sometimes for a, considerable time together, so that 
I have often been forced to shut myself up/' And 
Archbishop Usher used^ at one period of his life, on 
Saturday afternoon, to go alone to a river-side, and 



f 



ARE YOU REVIVED? 415 

there recount his sins, and confess and bewail them 
to the Lord with floods of tears? Are we wiUing to 
live up to the Scripture precepts for the ministry 
as they did? Are we willing to watch and pray, 
and fast, and study, and keep our hearts, and fight 
with our sins ; — willing to deny ourselves, take up 
the cross, daily, and follow Christ,'' — as they did? 
The Lord knoweth ! 

Let us admit it : if we who are ministers were 
nearer right, the churches and the world would be 
nearer right. If we were properly revived, the peo- 
ple around us would not long remain dull. We say 
properly revived, for all attempts to promote a re- 
vival till our own hearts are right, is mere beating 
the air. With a fervent state in our own mind, how 
full of unction will be our prayers, how deep the 
sincerity of our exhortations, how earnest and 
■powerful the pleadings of our sermons! But in the 
absence of this all our effort will be empty and 
vain. 

Alas, it is but too true that while we may not be 
chargeable with unsoundness in faith, nor outward 
negligence of duty, nor inconsistency of life, yet we 
may be the most grievous obstructions to revivals. 
As William Reid says, ''One may be a dry and 
empty cistern, notwithstanding his orthodoxy : he 
may be freezing up and blasting Hfc at the very time 
that he is speaking of the way of life. He may 
be repelling men from the cross even when he is in 
words proclaiming it : he may be standing between 
his flock and the blessing, even when he is calHiig it 



4i6 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



down from heaven ! " These are terrible considera- 
tions, but they are only too true. 

And how true also, these other words from the 
same source: *'It is easier to speak or wrt^e Sihout a 
revival than to se^ about it. There is so much rub- 
bish to' be swept out; so many self-raised hindran- 
ces to be dealt with ; so many old habits to be over- 
come ; so much sloth and easy-mindedness to be 
contended with ; so much of ministerial routine to 
be broken through ; and so much crucifixion, both 
of self and of the world, to be undergone, that we 
recoil from it. As Christ said of the unclean spirit 
which the disciples could not cast out, so we say 
here : This kind goeth not out but by prayer and 
fasting.'' 

Certainly, dear brethren, we are feeble as preach- 
ers because we are feeble as Christians, And our very 
profession exposes us to this shallowness of piety. 
Because we are engaged in holy things, the people 
may think, and we may think, that we are holy : — • 
forgetting that a holy office does not make one holy ; 
— forgetting that he may be spiritual in his pulpit 
and not in his closet ; — forgetting that he may be 
the keeper of others' vineyards, without keeping his 
own ; — forgetting that it is easier to declaim against 
sins in others than to mortify them in himself \ — aye 
forgetting that he may be the instrument of grace 
to others, and yet himself be lost ! 

O, let us take heed to these things. Let the 
startling language of John Owen ring in our ears : 
" He that would go down to the pit in peace, let 



ARE YOU REVIVED? 



AI7 



him obtain a great repute for religion ; let him 
preach and labor to make others better than he is 
himself, and in the meantime neglect to humble his 
heart, to walk with God in a manifest holiness and 
usefulness.'* And equally startling are the words 
of Swinnock : ^' It is a doleful thing to fall into 
hell from under the pulpit ; but O how dreadful a 
thing to drop thither out of the pulpit ! '' 

Nor let us attempt to shun our responsibility for 
revivals. Again we say: If the churches are not 
revived, it is largely our fault. There is no question 
of it. And what a thought, that we are chargeable 
with the absence of revivals ! — that because we do 
not act, no revival commences! Who is expected to 
be first in a reformation if not ourselves? Whose 
duty is it to lead the way but ours ? God forbid 
that we lack either the requisite courage or conse- 
cration ! God forbid that the blood of the impeni- 
tent be found on our garments ! 

And of the churches we would ask each one. How 
long is it since you have been refreshed from on high ? 
How long have you been mourning the Saviour's ab- 
sence ? And are you now waiting anxiously, pray- 
erfully, for his return ? — showing, also, by your works, 
that you desire his return speedily. 

It is a great question for each church to ask, 
Are we doing our part towards the world's conver- 
sion? Arc we ^Maily adding" to us such as shall 
be saved? And it is a poor reflection if you are 
barren that other churches around you arc so like- 



4 1 8 HANDBOOK OF RE V2 VALS, 

Wise. If a drought were consuming your crops, 
and the same were the case with the region around, 
would it give you comfort to know that you were no 
worse off than your neighbors? Or, if the showers 
were refreshing their parched fields, would it not 
awaken and increase your anxiety for equally copious 
rains? If others are dormant, surely that is a greater 
reason why you should be active. 

Nor forget, that it is a fearful thing to be to mere- 
ly maintaining the proper and decorous service of 
God's house. Christianity is not simply a power of con- 
servation, but of aggression. It must not merely live, 
but increase and cover the earth. It is not an out- 
post garrison, fixed and stationar}^ in its defences, 
but an army burning for conquest, and going on by 
rapid marches and increasing victories. Indeed, 
\{ a church be not thus aggressive, it must dwindle 
and spiritually die. Staid and wealthy, but in- 
dolent churches, would do well to heed what Mr. 
Spurgeon says : '* While a church is not bringing 
others in, her own heart is becoming weak in its pul- 
sations, and her entire constitution is becoming a 
prey to decline. The church must either bring forth 
children unto God, or die of consumption ; she has 
no alternative but that. A church must either be 
fruitful or rot; and of all things a rotting church is 
the most oftensive. Would God we could bury our 
dead churches out of our sight, as Abraham buried 
Sarah— -for above ground they breed a pestilence of 
skepticism and moral death ! " 

To individual Christians we would say, Have you 



A /'E YO rj /Vs VI yjif) ? 



419 



apprehended the fact that formalism, — the having 
^^a name to live while you are dead," — is your great- 
est peril ? ''\ am not afraid/' said one, " so much for 
my children that they fall into open vice — that they 
should become drunkards, thieves, or extortioners — 
as I am afraid that they shall get Into that formal 
state which speaks about religion, professes it, and 
is yet destitute of it: if this should be their state, I 
would indeed fear for their eternal salvation/' Well 
might one most dread this state ; and yet perhaps in 
that very state \n'd.y you at this moment be found ! 

When you consecrated yourself to Christ, you 
laid yourself on his altar. You presented your being 
d. living, not a </^^^ sacrifice. You declared your- 
self to be Christ's; having no right or title to your 
body, soul, property, time or talent. You professed 
to be dead unto sin, and alive unto God. And you 
set out with the inquiry, ^' Lord, what wilt thou have 
me to do?'' 

How has your life corresponded with that profes- 
sion? How, in the matter (A separateness from sin? 
Time was, in the days of the martyrs, when a female 
trained in the refinements of the Roman capital, 
would not throw a grain of incense on a pagan altar 
to save herself from the flames. Are you ready 
thus to resist every form of evil — if need be, even 
unto blood ? 

How has your life been in the matter of Christ- 
like devotion to others' good? There are many pro- 
fessing Christians who have never in their lives 
been the means of converting one soul ! But who 



420 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



might not rationally hope, by humble, prayerful, 
faithful prosecution of every opening and opportu- 
nity for personal Christian influence, to be the 
means of leading to Christ at least one soul every 
year ? Now consider what will be the result when- 
ever this shall be the earnest aim of every Christian 
— taking their present number as the basis. The 
church would be doubled annually ; and in less than 
three years^ this whole nation, or an equivalent pop- 
ulation, would be gathered into the fold of the Good 
Shepherd ! — prepared to go out and unfurl the gos- 
pel banner in every nation town and hamlet under 
heaven, proclaiming in every tongue the wonders of- 
redeeming grace ! And if but the same ratio of in- 
crease were continued for nine years, the whole 
world would be converted to God ! 

How entirely practicable, therefore, the world's 
conversion, if but individual Christians were alive 
to their duty. All that is wanted is a real absorp- 
tion, a genuine enthusiasm, in this work of soul-sav- 
ing. Said Mr. Moody, of Chicago, when in England, 
and addressing a large crowd, with scholars and noble- 
men in it: *^ We want enthusiasm in God's work. We 
find it in the world. Men are desperately in earnest in 
business circles- Hell is earnest. Why should we not 
be ? We talk about infidelity, and all the isms that 
are creeping over the world ; but I am more afraid of 
a cold {oxmdilism than anything else. One thing I 
admire in Garibaldi — his enthusiasm. In 1867, 
when on his way to Rome, he was told that if he 
got there he would be imprisoned. Said he, * If 



ARE YOU REVIVED? 42 1 

fifty Garibaldis are imprisoned, let Rome be free!' 
And when the cause of Christ is buried so deep in our 
hearts that we do not think of ourselves, and are will- 
ing ta die for it, then we will reach our fellow-men ! '' 

This was well and nobly said. For an engaged- 
ness like that would transform one's whole being 
into a living power for good. The whole depends, 
under God, upon whether we will act, henceforth, 
under the constant presence of a high purpose to 
live, not unto ourselves, but unto the Lord, From a 
thousand wires welded into one they forge the 
Damascus blade, that can divide the gossamer, or cut 
an iron bar asunder. So only let the manifold 
energies of one's being be molten into a single 
force, by the potent heat of a mighty purpose to 
serve God always and in all, and that holy and 
steady resolve will shape a life invincible by aught 
except almightiness itself. 

And is not the single consideration of the peril 
of men's souls, of a dying race, enough to produce 
such engagedness ? A heathen king once put on 
sackcloth over the sin and ruin of a single city. 
Another heathen monarch, at the head of two 
millions of men, sat down and wept because in a 
hundred years all that host would be dead. And 
still other heathens cried out to one of God's unfaith- 
ful servants, ^^ What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise! 
call upon thy God 1 " Would that a louder cry of 
perishing millions would wake <?;/r guilty slumbers! 
O, where will they all soon be? Dead ! dead \ And 
yet where are our tears and loud weeping, both for 



422 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



ourselves and for our fellows ? Alas ! that we can see 
thousands perish around us, and our sleep never be 
disturbed !— no vision of their awful doom ever 
scaring us ! — no cry from their lost souls ever turning 
our peace into bitterness ! 

Was Dr. Arnot too enthusiastic when he ex- 
claimed : *^ I see men and women perishing. The 
number is so great that it overwhelms me. My brain 
is burning ; my heart is breaking. The church is 
asleep, and the world, too, and they are hugging 
each other. I am weary with holding in. I must 
cry out ; and I would rather be counted singular in 
the judgment of man than be unfaithful in the judg- 
ment of God ! " 

Dear reader ; bring all this home to your own 
conscience. You are neglecting souls I And can 
you let another day pass without an effort to save at 
least one ? Choose whom you will try to influence ; 
and then go to your closet and cry mightily to God 
for his blessing upon your endeavor ; and next go to 
that soul, with tract, or book, or loving epistle, or 
broken sobs, and tears ; — and it may prove to be an 
arrow in God's bow to bring down one of his ene- 
mies. 

Then try to stir up a revival spirit in the church 
to which you belong. Do not wait for a large num- 
ber to move. What evidence can be drawn, either 
directly or indirectly from the Scriptures, that a 
great many must unite in prayer, before God will 
hear and answer ? We do verily believe it to be a 
device of the enemy of revivals, to persuade Chris- 



ARE YOU REVIVED? 423 

tians who begin to feel anxious for their return, that 
there is no use in the prayers and efforts of a few, 
as long as there is no general waking up. of the 
church. Instead of this, ask, '^ Am I right in this 
matter?" *^ Do not I need in this respect a great 
revival? '' '' Have I felt and acted on these points 
as I ought to have done ? '' And when j^^// are truly 
revived^ unite with the few others of like feeling 
and resolve never to give up without a blessing. Go 
to your pastor with that feeling, and tell him of it. 
Ministers are greatly influenced by their members. 
The writer has often been stirred to thought and 
effort by some one in his flock saying, ^' Pastor, is it 
not time that we had a revival ?" Speak to others, 
also, of your feelings, and mention it in the prayer- 
meetings, and so work on ; and you will be the 
means of a great awakening I 

Who, in laying down this volume, will not join in 
these *^ reasons why I desire a revival ? '' 

God loves revivals. A revival is not a questiona- 
ble good. It bears the superscription of heaven. 

There is great need of a revival. Zion lan- 
guishes. Christians are asleep. Iniquity is coming in 
like a flood. Sinners are perishing. Christ is dis- 
honored. 

God comes near in a revival. Our sins have hid 
his face from us. He seems far distant. If he deign 
to revive his work, he will return. He will hover 
near. He will cause his face to shine, and we shall be 
saved. 

I wish my own spirit to be refreshed. '' As the 



424 



HANDBOOK OF REVIVALS. 



hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my 
soul after thee, O God." 

A revival of religion would be a precious evidence 
that God accepts my poor endeavors. Often am I 
ready to cry out, "' Who is sufficient for these 
things? '' Am I in the way of God's working here ? 
Oh for some tokens of my Master's favor ! 

A revival would be a great blessing to this church. 
Why are these followers of Christ so negligent in 
prayer, so worldly, so barren ? I long to see Zion 
put on strength. O Lord, quicken thy people, and 
make Jerusalem a praise ! 

In granting a revival, God would glorify him- 
self. He manifests his glory more especially in revi- 
vals of religion. He glorifies his sovereignty, his 
power, his truth, and his grace. If he pour out on 
us a Pentecostal blessing, how would men and angels 
praise him ! 

A revival would add glory to the crown of Christ. 
Souls are Christ's choicest jewels. They are ^^ the 
joy set before him." I faint to see his kingdom 
come. The bowing of sinners at the foot of his 
cross is the rumbling of his chariot wheels. Come, 
Lord Jesus, come quickly ! 

'' O Lord, Revive Thy Work ! '' 



I ISTD E-X. 



ADAMS, Thomas, 14. 
Alexander, Archibald, 18, 169. 
Alexander, J. W., 15, 73, 298, 299, 406. 
American ancestors, 38, 45, 85. 
American Board of Missions, 88. 
Aim of Christians wrong, 206-7. 
Aim in preaching, 254-5, 279. 
Aspects of revivals, 15, 16, etc. 
Atheism and rev., 111-113. 
Alexander, W. L., 178. 
Adams, Wm., 321. 
Atwood, paper of, 379, 
Arnot, 344, 421. 
*' Anxious seats," 352. 
Absorption in soul saving, 420. 

I BALDWIN 58. 
) Baptist churches, 54, 59. 
Baptist Foreign Miss. Soc, 59, 87, 89. 
Boston, rev. in. 65, 106, 114, 125-6. 
Business men's meetings, 66. 
Bunyan, 83, 271. 
Brown University, 97. 
Burr, 146. 
Barnes, 131, 210. 
Bowwens, 36. 
Blair, 46, 280. 

Baxter, 40, 154, 271, 174, 413. 
Bellamy, 59. 
Bushnell, 115, 130. 
Belfast, 74. 

Beecher, Lyman, 59, 102, 217, 222, 290. 
Burchard, 171, 193. 
Books and tracts, 243. 
Bruce (of Scotland), 286. 
Backus, Dr., dying on his knees, 300. 
Burton's theatre, 315. 
Beecher, Henry Ward, 315, 360. 
Business and religion, 378. 
Benevolent societies and rev., 404. 
Brown, Nicholas, 296. 
Bible classes and rev., 336-37, etc. 

pALVIN, 83, 257. 

\J Carey, 87. 

Covenant, half-way, 46, 47, 48, 58, 100. 

Congregational churches, 54, 58, 92. 

Chatham theatre, 63. 

Colleges and seminaries, 94, 99, 295-8. 

Churches, strong by revivals, 99, 107. 

Communion, a converting ordin., 46-8 

Converted mcnnbership, 100. 

Church and State, loi, 102. 

Conviction, 115, 204, 257, 355. 

Caughey, 160, 276. 

Cuyler, 137, 327, 332. 



Child converts, 169, 185, 186, 193. 

Cox, 181. 

Child profession, 180, etc. 

Confession, 202, 364. 

Church a converting agency, 206. 

Church to be ist right, 239, 241, 242. 

Continuous effort, 245, etc. 

Cincinnati, convention there, 246. 

Cautions as to special efforts, 250, etc. 

Cross, power of, 257. 

Chalmers, 271. 

Cbwper, 301. 

Curry, 309. 

Church in Jerusalem, 321. 

Consecration of all to Gody 377. 

Conformity to world, 379. 

Convert culture, 370, 375, 381-3, 388. 

Creeds, helps of, 3S7, 391, 397-8. 

Cutting, 390-91. 

Catechetical instruction, 388, 391, 397. 

Conversion of world, slow, 395-6-7, 

405. 
Country towns saved by rev., 400, 401. 
Cities saved by rev., 400, 401. 
Conversation, religious, 329, 346. 
Country towns and S. schools, 347. 
Coming forward for prayer, 351. 

T^ARTMOUTH„ 95. 

J / Discipline, church, 48, 49, 229, 239. 

Dwight, 58, 96, 102. 

De Witt, 63, 106. 

Declension, 104, etc., 128. 

Davenport, 151, 

De Witt (H. G.), 160, 232. 

Distress over sinners, 197, 199, 304. 

Distrust of rev., 207, 210, 211. 

Decline of a rev., to be ex[)ected, ai6, 

Dependence on God, 220, 227. 

Davies, 260. 

Duty of profession, 374. 

Durbin, 291. 

Doctrines corrupted in absence rev., 

339. 
Doctrinal truth important, 343, 345. 

EARLE, 158, 160, 198, 237, 341, 373. 
's preaching, 364, etc. 

Edwards, 23, 48, 125, 146, 165, 175, etc. 
Excitement, 54, 126, 143, 144. 
Evangelists, 60, 61, 150, 167, 244, 350. 
Edwards (Morgan), 151. 
Extra efforts, 230, 351. 
J'!x<:it(Mnent d»'i>r((ated, 350. 
IstlVctivt' |»rr.i«hing, 354. 
Earnestness in preaching, 369, etc., 



426 



INDEX, 



Edwards', Enfield's sermon, 289. 
Evidences of conversii>us, 367, 370. 
Emotions a poor guide, 377. 
Examinations for membership, 384. 
Experience, light of as to rev., 393. 
Enthusiasm in soul-saving, 420. 

FAITH, nature of, 363. 
Furman, 64. 
Fulton St. prayer-meeting, dd, 67, 72, 

298, 327. 
Fish, Joseph, 151. 
Finney, 160, 245, 292. 
Fuller, Andrew, 87. 
Fuller, Richard, 191, 192, 267, 268. 
Fasting and prayer, 229, 239. 
Fears not too soon allayed, 363. 
Fish, (Samuel,) 400. 
First gospel church, 321. 
Fleming, 39, 40. 
Flavel, 83. 

(1 ANO, 151 — goes to Hamilton, 296. 
J Genuine revivals, 14, 21, etc. 
Gibson, 76, 
Green, 96. 
Griffin, Dr., 16, 59, 61, 90, 104, 176, 220, 

251, 261, 290. 
Graves, 160. 
Goodwin, 187. 
*' Getting up" a rev., 228. 
Georgia, 245. 
Growth, the law of, 376. 

, helps to, 385. • 

Guthrie, 398. 
Gulliver, 344. 

HALDANES, the, 57, etc., 326. 
Hall,.S. H., 232. 
Hetherihgton, 12. 
Harris, 154, 155. 
Howitt, 84. 

Humphrey, 88; 97, 133, 153, 178, 204, 
Hawes, 103, 105. 
Halley, 176. 

Hammond, 160, 271, 312. 
Hill, Rowland, 278. 
■ Holiness in preachers, 281. 
Holy Spirit in conversion, 281. 
Henry, Matthew, 174. 
Holyoke Seminary, 297. 
Hamilton College, 300. 
Heart-hymns, 302. 
Heart, emblem of, 365. 
High aim in religion. 376. 
Hope of world in rev., 393, etc. 
Halifax, Vt., 400. 
Hall, R., 175. 
Hall, Bishop, 175. 
Hallock, 360. 
Huss, 34. 
Hyde, 62. 

IDE (Geo. B.), 158. 
Ireland, 40, 74, 76. 



Inskip, 150, 271. 
Indications of a rev., 197, etc. 
Incidental evils of rev., 211. 
Incipient rev. checked, 223. 
InaMlity in the will, 262. 
Iminediate surrender to God, 2SI. 
Indolent piety, 291, 41S. 
Individualism killed in organization, 

322. 
Intelligence in lay effort, 322. 
Instruction to converts, 372-3-4-5. 
Inquiry meetings, 348, 352. 
Inquirers, treatment of, 349, 355. 
Industry in ministers, 412. 

JANET with her broomstick, 322. 
Jay, Wm., his three " R's," 343. 
Jerks, iS, etc. 
Jewell, Bishop, 308. 
Judson, 88, 91. 

KENDRICK, Nathaniel, 296. 
. Kentucky, 64, 245. 
Knox, 39, 2S6. 
Kettering, 87. 
Knapp, 160, 249, 271, 291. 
Kindness in preaching, 372. 
Kirk, 245. 

LAMBS of Jesus, 173, 195, 343. 
Lanphier, 66. 
Luther, 34, 155, 257, 308. 
Livingston, John, 39, 287. 
Little things in rev., 252. 
Laj^-element in rev., 233, 325-6-7. 
Lukewarmness, 234. 
Lyon, Mary, 297. 
Legal way of striving, 357. 

MADISON University, an incident, 
29S. 
Martyn, Henry, 311. 
Methodism, 45, 55, 258. 
Mather, Increase, 45. 
More, 57. 
Mason, 63. 
jMissions, 86-90. 
Mills, 88, 90. 
Manning, 97. 
Maine, 157, 167, 248. 
Mather, Cotton, 46. 
Middlebury, 98. 
Mcllvaine, 107. 
Maclay, 106, 176, 336. 
McCheyne, 179, 226, 269. 
Moody, 420. 

Means and methods, 221-228. 
Murphy, 230. 
Moral practices, 240. 
Music a means of grace, 302-3. 

in the Middle ages, 307. 

Motto of first Methodists, 325. 
Masses unreached in cities, 403. 
Ministers, 49, 92, 238, 331, etc. 
Melancthon, 83. 



INDEX. 



427 



"VTAME of Christ, coming in, 368. 

li Nazianzen, Gregory, 283. 

Newark, 16, 61, 71, 104. 

Northampton, 48, 49, 50. 

Norfolk, 62. 

New York, 64, 71, 106. 

Noonday meetings, 67. 

Nettleton, 15, 60, 61, 133, 151, 163, 164, 

203, 213, 223, 252, 263, 277, 291, 312, 

352, 362. 
Newell, 88. 
Nott, 88. 

New Brunswick, 51, 105. 
New Hampshire, 62, 159, 248. 
Nottingham sermon, 92-3. 
New Haven, 105-6. 
New Hartford, Conn., 220. 

OBJECTIONS to rev., 125, etc. 
Obstacles to inquirers, 358. 
Owen, 83. 
• Orthodoxy, 144. 
Offences confessed, 234. 
Origin of a rev., 237. 
Organism does not give power, 399. 
Only hope in rev., 405, etc. 

PAYSON, 355. 

X Physical manifestations, 16-20. 

Pentecost, 27, 29, 283. 

Post-apostolic age, 30-1 ^ 

Period, rev., ist, 33 ; 2d, 37 ; [3d, 43 ; 

4th, 56 ; 5th, 65. 
Pilgrims, 38, 85. 
Presbyterian churches, 54, 62. 
Prayer-meetings, 68, 78, 200, 252. 
Press, aiding rev., 69. 
Philadelphia, 72, 127. 
Princeton, 96. 
Providence, 97, io8. 
Providences and rev., 109, 199, 329. 
Popery, 33. 
Porter, 61, 208, 239, 247, 250, 326, 396, 

407. 
Pendleton, 155. 
Pomcroy, 155. 
Prime, 246. 

Prayer and ministers, 283, etc. 
Polycarp, 174. 

Profession of religion by children, 180. 
Prayer an index of rev., 203, 222. 
Pastors preventing rev., 211-13. 
Private duties in rev., 221. 
Perils with privileges, 222. 
Promoting a rev,, 226, 227, etc. 
Producing a rev. spirit, 228. 
Parents anxious for children, 230. 
Preparing for a rev., 228, 237, 272. 
Protracted meetings, 230, 237, 243, 251. 
Personal visitation, 243. 
Primitive and modern churches, 244. 
Pitt<;burg, convention there, 246. 
Prayer, 251, 298-300, 329. 
Pressing the conscience, 261 380. 
Preachers to be holy, 281. 



Plague in London, 278. 

Pompilius' ultimatum, 280. 

Praising God a duty, 305-6. 

Personal effort and rev., 320, 330. 

Primitive evangelism, 320-23. 

Philosophy of individualism, 324. 

Parental effort, 328. 

Power of church, 370, 371. 

Profession, public, 374. 

Progress, Christian, 376. 

Principle in religion, 377. 

Pledge, sign it, 377. 

Pastors to supplement evangelists, 

380. 
Progress of world's conversion slow, 

394» 405. 
Proselytes of men, 407. 
Prayer, in ministers, 411-12. 
Pastors may hinder revivals, 415-17. 



Q 



UEENS Mary and Elizabeth, 33. 



1) AIKES and his school, 333-4. 
i Reception of members, 374. 
Reasons for desiring a rev., 424. 
Rc/bertson, 18. 
Robbins, 62. 
Rutland, 63. 

Reformed Dutch Church, dd. 
Requests for prayer, 68, 253. 
Rice, 88. 
Richards, 90, 91 
Results of rev., 102. 
Restitution, 202. 
Revival conventions, 246. 
Rev. from prayer, examples, 392, etc. 
Rules for singing in rev., 319. 
Repentance, nature of, 363. 
Ring, the emblem of heart, 365. 
Religion in business, 378. 
"Revivals unjustly blanVed, 381. 

God's method in past, 393. 

, unspeakable benefits from. 



393. 



- in cities, 402, etc. 
, instruction in Theo: Semi- 
naries, 407. 

in Scotland, 36, 39, 56, 334-5. 

Rome trains her young, 393. 

Rural districts, 4cx). 

Responsibility with leadership, 410-17. 

of pastors, 410. 

Reid, 415. 

Regenerated ch. membership, 358. 

QALKM, N. J., 330, 

U Shotts, kirk of, 39, 386-7. 

Stoddard, 47, 69. 

Stillman, 58. 

Stevenson, 64. 

Spring, 64, 106, 390: 

Stow, 74. 

Social influence of rev., 84. 

Stuart, Geo. H., 70. 



428 



IDDEX, 



Simpson, 127. 

Sj'mpathies, 133. 

Spirit, Holy, honored by rev., 113. 

Special efforts, 129. 

Sunday-schools, 118, 191, etc. 

Spurious conversions, 133. 

Spurgeon, 9S, 215, 366, 41S. 

's conversion, 366. 

Somers, Conn., 203. 

Skinner, 210. 

Self praise deprecated, 225. 

Sectarian discussions, 225. 

Sovereignty of God in rev., 226, 

Special measures change, 22S. 

Stumbling-blocks removed, 239. 

Special rev. efforts, 243, 351. 

Smith, 245. 

Slow progress of conversions, 247, etc. 

Scripturalness in preaching, 252, etc. 

Steele, 266, 291. 

Sovereignty of God. 270. 

Society meetings, Methodist, 2S8: 

Swan, Jabez, 291: 

Singing important, 301: 

, rev. of, under Wesley, 308-9: 

not useful at times, 

Stevens, 309: 

Surrender to God, 360: 

Self-righteous spirit, 364: 

Submission to God, 364: 

Sunday-school, converts to join, 373-3: 

Self-denial, 376: 

Signing the pledge, 372: 

Secret prayer, 378: 

Searching the Scriptures, 379: 

Statistics of conversion, 395-6, 405: 

Soul-saving, skilled in, 407: 

Sunday-schools and rev., 333: 

Sprague, 337: 

Soul-saving the great business, 329: 

Soul, its exceeding value, 329: 

*•' Sending a hand," 330-31. ^ 

Sin to be set forth to inquirers, 335. 

Singleness of purpose, 413. 

TAKING hold on God, 222. 
Taylor, Isaac, 322. 
Telegraph aiding rev., 69, 70. 
Tyler, 98. 
Tyng, 189, 335. 



Turning-point in rev., 203. 
Temperance, 229, 332, 378. 
Tracts and books, 243, 354. 
Trumbull, 25S. 

Theological students and rev., 407. 
Torringford, Conn., 320, 
Tholuck, 2S0. 

ULSTER, 40, 75-6. 
Uniformity act, 39. 
Union meetings, 69, 78. 
Unbelief, 219. 
Unpardonable sin, 358. 
Usefulness the aim, 376. 

VERMONT, 63, 157, 348. 
T Vincent, 27S-9. 

ITTAITING God's time, 360. 
>> Wales, 55, 56. 
Williams, iS. 
Whitheld, 51, 54, 56, 84, 136, 151, 160, 

192, 275, 277, 413. 
Wesle}^ 55, 84, 151,. 3S8, 323, 334, 367. 
WicklifFe, 82. 
Williams College, 90. 
Wheelock, 155. 
Watts, 175. 
Witherspoon, 143. 
Webb, 1S9. 

Work when God works, 213, 330. 
West Sims bury. Conn, 320. 
Wilbur s statistics, 249. 
Whitfield, Davies and Edwards com- 
pared, 260. 
Wisdom and skill in rev., 374. 
Welsh, John, 2S5. 
Week of prayer, 2 98. 
Wrong directions to inquirers, 360. 
Whitfield, bro. of Geo., 366. 
Watch — care of church, 374. 
Working for Christ, 376. 
Wayland, 336. 
Waiting for feeling, 357. 
^ change of heart, 358. 

TALE, 96, 97. 
Yearning for souls, 277. 

Yerkes, 265. 



THE END. 



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